Rep Upchurch: Repeat Offender Act Puts Guns Back in the Hands of People Who Shouldn't Have Them

COLUMBUS - State Rep. Terrence Upchurch (D-Cleveland) today voted “NO” on House Bill (HB) 5, the Repeat Offender Act. 

“Our Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections’ mission statement is ‘reduce recidivism among those we touch’, yet we see our prisons and youth facilities failing to complete that mission. We need common sense solutions that do not include increasing minimum sentencing and putting more guns on the street because it has proven ineffective. We need to focus on a real and sustainable strategy for rehabilitation and reintegration,” said Rep. Upchurch.  

Ohio should be investing in solutions like education, intervention, and reentry programs, instead of longer sentences. HB 5 puts guns back in the hands of people who shouldn’t have them, adds mandatory sentence after mandatory sentence causing prison populations to soar and prevents police from being able to do a full background check on people who apply for law enforcement jobs.

House Bill 5 passed the House with a 71-24 vote. It now heads to the Senate for consideration.