FAQs
What alternatives exist to incarcerating children in adult prisons?
Depending upon the age of the juvenile and the crime committed, the prosecutor’s office can propose a serious youthful offender (SYO) sentence. The prosecutor’s office currently under-utilizes an SYO sentence, which provides an additional chance for a child’s rehabilitation without any threat to public safety. This better fulfills the mission of the juvenile court, which is to ensure that a child never comes back into the system.
An SYO sentence is when a juvenile judge imposes both a juvenile sentence and an adult sentence, but allows the child to serve the juvenile sentence first. If the child completes that sentence and rehabilitates, the adult sentence is never served. But if there are issues during the juvenile sentence, they must then serve the adult sentence.
What are your goals for policing as prosecutor?
There is a national recruitment crisis regarding engaging, hiring, and supporting law enforcement that pledge an oath to serve our communities and uphold constitutional rights. Targeting crimes that harm our community, my first campaign priority, requires the prosecutor’s office and law enforcement to work closely together and support each other.
As your prosecutor, I will ensure that police experiences with my office are as smooth as possible, by understanding the many different things we already ask of them and the ways in which a prosecutor’s office can avoid overburdening them further.
Should Cuyahoga County build a new jail?
Many of the issues we’ve seen in our current jail, including the string of deaths and the unacceptable food, would not be solved by building a bigger jail that costs over $2 billion. A new jail building may be needed, but these problems are easier to solve when the jail is only used to hold defendants who are a threat to public safety or a flight risk. I will oppose any plan that wastes taxpayer money on a jail that is larger than necessary.
Do you support the use of the death penalty?
No. Despite a nation-wide understanding that the death penalty does not reduce the murder rate, is prone to error and bias, and is more expensive than jailing someone for life, Cuyahoga County has led the nation in new death sentences in the last 5 years. Meanwhile, a growing bipartisan coalition in the Ohio General Assembly is seeking to end the death penalty. Cuyahoga County should never be lagging far behind a Republican-controlled state legislature on any issue, especially this one.
What’s your stance on the current use of cash bail?
The practice of cash bail means that people who commit serious or violent offenses can return home before their trial as long as they have enough money. It also means that people who commit low-level, non-violent offenses are housed in our county jail before their trial, many of whom cannot afford a payment of less than $1,000.
Simply put: cash bail makes us all less safe. The alternative is to decide who is kept in jail before trial by determining if they are a threat to public safety or a flight risk, rather than how much money they have access to. This helps ensure we target crimes that harm our community while not punishing the poor for being poor.
As prosecutor, will you pursue charges against people who obtain abortions or related reproductive healthcare? Will you pursue charges against medical professionals who provide reproductive healthcare?
No. Never. As your prosecutor, I will never criminalize abortion care and that includes those who seek care and those who provide care.