Senate Passes Manning, Lehner Bill Granting Parole Eligibility for Juvenile Offenders

COLUMBUS—The Senate today passed Senate Bill 256, sponsored by Senators Nathan Manning (R-North Ridgeville) and Peggy Lehner (R-Kettering), which abolishes life without parole for juveniles and provides sentencing reform consistent with Supreme Court precedent to allow for parole hearings for juvenile offenders after a specified time spent in prison. "If our prisons are truly meant for rehabilitation, then we should let them rehabilitate these young adults, because they do have the capacity to change and mature," said Manning. "Thank you to my Senate colleagues and those who joined us in working on this legislation to help move Ohio’s juvenile justice system forward." The United States is the only country in the world that sentences children to life in prison with no chance of parole. This bill will bring Ohio in line with 22 other states who have taken steps to comply with U.S. Supreme Court rulings declaring it unconstitutional for a child be given a sentence of life without parole. Senate Bill 256 would provide juveniles the opportunity for parole review after serving 18 years in prison, or 25 years if the juvenile has committed one or more homicide offenses. An offender who is serving time for an aggravated homicide offense, or for the offense of terrorism when the most serious underlying offense in the terrorism was aggravated murder, would not be eligible for parole review unless it is a part of their original sentence. "Life without hope may be one of the cruelest punishments, and life without parole offers no hope, no motivation to work hard, seek forgiveness, or change to become a better person," said Lehner. "If we can provide hope for our troubled children, we may see more redemption in our prison system." The bill received strong support from Ohio’s Judicial Conference, the Ohio Justice & Policy Center, the Office of the Ohio Public Defender, the Ohio Conservative Juvenile Justice Network, the Alliance for Safety and Justice, among other youth sentencing and justice organizations. To learn more about Senate Bill 256, click here. To watch Senator Lehner’s and Manning’s floor speeches urging support for this bill, click here.