Douglas Robinson has been arrested so many times in the last two years – 74 times, to be exact – that social service agencies in the area put him on a list of people they wanted to help the next time he was arrested.
That happened Monday, resulting in a maximum 90-day jail sentence on charges of solicitation and possession of illegal drugs. But when one of the agency people called the jail to make sure Robinson was held, he found that Robinson was already free -- released due to overcrowding, much like the other times he was arrested. Hamilton County’s director of pretrial services, Wendy Niehaus, said it’s frustrating, but that she and her staff understand the difficult position Hamilton County Sheriff Simon Leis is in as jailer. 'The sheriff has to prioritize,' Niehaus said. 'Is it Douglas that he keeps? Or is the person charged with aggravated robbery? That’s the bottom line.'
But when Robinson is released, it doesn’t improve the situation for anyone, she said. 'He’s part of a marginalized population that sucks up resources, just not the right kind,' Niehaus said. Leis closed 800 jail beds in December 2008 because of budget cuts, reducing the space to hold inmates by a third. Voters have twice rejected tax increases to pay for a new jail or a jail expansion. That means lots of people are released simply because there is not room to keep them and others get out early. Last year more than 20,000 inmates were released because of overcrowding, according to an Enquirer analysis.
Earlier this month Hamilton County Municipal Judge Richard Bernat reported that he walked out of the justice center after conducting a series of bond hearings and saw a person he sentenced to spend 90 days in jail on a theft charge less than an hour earlier. The jail was so full that woman was told to come back in March to serve her time.
Robinson’s criminal history dates to spring 2008, when he was kicked out of a homeless shelter after being accused of theft. Records show the 50-year-old Robinson became a chronic problem downtown. He has been arrested 73 times since, on 153 charges, records show. Mostly he’s arrested for panhandling and trespassing, sometimes also with resisting arrest. Robinson was arrested Tuesday on a charge of possession of drugs and tampering with evidence after Cincinnati police officers say they saw him on Pleasant Street with crack cocaine and a pipe to smoke it.
Hamilton County Municipal Judge Ted Berry was so shocked when he saw Robinson’s record Wednesday that he asked if it was a typographical error. It wasn’t a mistake, courtroom staff assured him. Berry set Robinson’s bond at $9,500. The Enquirer used court records to report that Robinson had been arrested 96 times. A review of his jail stays shows he has been arrested 74 times since May 2008.
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Meanwhile, in Maricopa County, Arizona--they have so much money the Sheriff can voluntarily go into the federal (!) immigration law enforcement business; hire $1000 per hour attorneys to sue the County's other elected officials who in turn hire outside counsel to defend the lawsuits. All the while arresting anyone who looks suspicious. American justice is . . . a crazy shitstorm.
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