"Look, it's important because I can be more sensitive ... to the concerns of the Chardon community, having lived through it myself." Eklund
Sen. John Eklund said Friday afternoon it was because of the Chardon Schools shooting that he decided to become the primary sponsor of a senate bill that, among other things, would grant juveniles sentenced to life without parole a chance to one day receive a parole hearing.
Sen. John Eklund said Friday afternoon it was because of the Chardon Schools shooting that he decided to become the primary sponsor of a senate bill that, among other things, would grant juveniles sentenced to life without parole a chance to one day receive a parole hearing.
When asked to take on this role, as the chairman of the Ohio Senate’s Criminal Justice committee, Eklund wanted to lead, balancing necessary reforms with his unique experience.
“Look, it’s important because I can be more sensitive … to the concerns of the Chardon community, having lived through it myself,” Eklund said.
“I felt, given where I live (Munson Township) and the experience of our community, there is probably nobody else in the senate who would be in a better position to take into account the sensitivities of the families.”
Eklund represented the entire Chardon School district during the 2012 shooting that killed three Chardon High School students. He said he has worked to get relief money for the school. And it was important to him to sponsor this bill as a means of driving criminal justice reform for minors in Ohio.
He also thought about the convicted murderer in the Chardon shooting.
“I understood that the bill, if it had passed in this form, would have had the affect of granting T.J. Lane a hearing,” Eklund said from his cell phone on the drive home from Columbus.
“Is T.J. Lane going to get out of prison? My response has been that neither bill would let him out of prison, that’s not what the bill does,” he said. “Based on what I’ve been told by lawyers, they said: ‘Don’t worry, it’ll never happen.’ That’s not the point.”
It was the Ohio Criminal Sentencing Commission, which is responsible for reviewing and making recommendations to Ohio’s sentencing patterns, that spearheaded both bills.
When the status of Senate Bill 272 and House Bill 521 came to light this week, Chardon’s community spoke out strongly against it.
For Geauga County Prosecutor Jim Flaiz, the mothers of the victims, Superintendent Michael Hanlon, a former Chardon High School student who started a petition and hundreds of community members — mostly angry community members — on social media, talk of the bills re-opened a wound.
Eklund says he doesn’t read the news reports or pay attention to social media, but he has received calls this week, mostly seeking information about the bills, the majority against it.
His committee has held hearings on the house bill, and two more days of hearings are scheduled next week. But Eklund admitted it was not likely to advance to a floor vote.
“I don’t have any confidence, personally, that the disagreements are going to be worked out between now and next week,” he said. “If they aren’t worked out, the bill will not be voted out.”
The senate bill he sponsored is also dead, Eklund admitted. Neither he nor co-sponsor Sen. Cecil Thomas (D-Cincinnati) have asked the Ohio Senate Government Oversight and Reform Committee to hold a hearing on the bill.
Late Thursday, the Ohio House leadership assured Reps. John Patterson (D-Jefferson) and Sarah LaTourette (R-Chester Township), who now regret voting for House Bill 521 in May, that the bill would not receive another vote.
Eklund doesn’t regret going through the legislative process on contentious and emotional issues.
“Are there worthy juvenile criminal reforms to be made that the heinous acts of T.J. Lane prevented?” he said. “This happens all the time. A bill seems like a good idea. And they go down in flames.
“There will be ongoing efforts at juvenile reform. There may be a better way to skin a cat in future general assemblies.”
