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For John Mascio, there's a simple path to follow to see results in his job.
"I think to be successful on the lower court levels, you have to have compassion for people," Mascio explained while speaking at the Dec. 6 meeting of the Steubenville Rotary Club.
Mascio, who has been on the bench as judge in the Steubenville Municipal Court since 2015, discussed with club members gathered at the JeffCo Event Center how his court is making a difference in the community. He talked about the operations of the court in general, and covered the mental health court in particular.
"I think it's important to recognize that in terms of courts, there are different levels," Mascio, a 1994 graduate of Catholic Central High School, said. "At the bottom is my court -- Steubenville Municipal Court -- and the county courts in Dillonvale, Toronto and Wintersville."
Those courts, he explained, deal with the low-level misdemeanor offenses. And that means they face different issues.
"Many of the offenders who come through our courts are low-level offenders. Many have addictions and there are many mental health issues," he said.
"It's important to have programs in place to address the problem of recidivism, that revolving door, where people are released from jail and it's back and forth and back and forth."
Those programs offer a wide range of help, which is important to the person whose life has gone astray and the community as a whole.
"We have programs in place in terms of probation that address drug and alcohol addictions," Mascio explained. "You can get your GED, we can address your housing needs, we can help people with their driver's license. Whatever the problem is, it can be addressed through the court system -- all you have to do is come."
That's not always as easy as you might think.
"For whatever reason, people are so resistant. Sometimes it's very difficult to get them to show up. We try to work with them and help them, whatever the issues they have going on."
One of the programs that Mascio is proudest of is the mental health court. According to information from Lisa Hall, the program coordinator, the court allows access to Jefferson County residents who have been charged with non-violent misdemeanor crimes and who have a history of mental illness. It's an alternative to jail that provides communitybased, coordinated treatment.
"We do a lot with our program," Hall said. "Through this program, we want to connect our defendants with community support services. Our goals are to reduce recidivism and reduce jail or prison hospital bed days and the costs associated with those."
The program, which was formed in 2021, has to met rigorous clinical and legal standards, she explained. It is one of 37 courts in Ohio that has received certification through the Ohio Supreme Court. Justices, he added, have referred judges from around the state to their court.
Programs like mental health court help people who are looking to make changes in their lives, and they also help area taxpayers. It costs $65 a day to house a prisoner in the Jefferson County Jail, Mascio said. He added that when he first came into the office, the city's jail costs for 2014 were $120,000. Nine years later, he said, those costs have been reduced to $86,000.
"I think these programs are working -- I think they are having a positive effect," added Mascio, who is the son of longtime area attorney and retired Common Pleas Judge John J. Mascio Sr.
Not every area is as fortunate as Steubenville to have such options. Mascio said there are 235 courts in the state that have special dockets like mental health court. That alternative, though, can lead some area residents to an inevitable question.
"I get asked all of the time if I'm getting soft on crime," Mascio said. "I think the answer is emphatically no. I think the use of programs is a recognition of practices that didn't work. You just incarcerate people and it serves no benefit, because when they get out of jail they have the same problems."
While sometimes they can't be avoided, jail terms can lead to bigger issues.
And that's where programs like mental health court come in.
"We have the benefit of providing offenders with the tools they need to succeed in life and lead law-abiding, productive lives," Mascio explained. "It benefits the taxpayers as well, because we do save on jail costs. A lot of times jail causes problems," he added. "There are unintended consequences when you go to jail. You can lose your medical coverage, you can lose your housing and sometimes people lose their jobs."
Which is why Mascio's court offers the programs it does.
"I think the easy part of my job would be to just send people to jail," he said.
"The hard part is working with people. I always say that I prefer to give any jail time on the back end, really as a last resort."
(Gallabrese, a resident of Steubenville, is executive editor of the Herald-Star and The Weirton Daily Times. He is a member of the Steubenville Rotary Club.)