While reading the ‘Ohio Parole Board Handbook’ published January 2019, it is easy to read between the lines and see no transparency in the thirty-five pages. It states, “parole suitability involves a balance between public safety and offender rehabilitation” which should be broken down into saying the offender has shown rehabilitative efforts with the help of the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections (ODRC) and they no longer pose a threat to society. However, offenders continually are denied parole due to the serious nature of the crime. 

With rehabilitation in the name of the ODRC, the question may be posed, is rehabilitation enough when it comes to the Ohio Parole Board? Or will the serious nature of the crime continue to loom over the heads of thousands of individuals in the Ohio correctional system?

Cheryl Driskell was given 15 to life at the age of 18, she is currently sitting on a forty year sentence and was given another three years at the beginning of April. Ms. Driskell was denied parole again, due to the serious nature of the crime. With numerous certifications, completion of programs, a superb institutional record, employment opportunities after release, a suitable environment for living, and no history of drug or alcohol abuse, the use of ‘serious nature of the crime’ continues to deny her the possibility of a life outside prison walls.