Charita Goshay: State Rep. Bob Young making mockery of the law, public service
State Rep. Bob Young of Green recently was arrested for the second time in as many months; the latest for violating a protection order.
In July, Young was charged by Summit County sheriff's deputies with domestic violence and assault after being accused of slapping his wife at a private party and then trying to break into a male relative's house after she ran to him for help. A friend of hers also told deputies that she was assaulted by Young after confronting him.
Deputies reported that a child in the house was a witness to Young's alleged assault of the two women.
Young's second arrest followed accusations that he violated a no-contact by leaving three voicemails for a family member listed under the protection order.
Young has pleaded not guilty in Barberton Municipal Court to the latest charge, and has been ordered to wear a 24-hour ankle monitor by visiting Judge Edward O'Farrell, a no-nonsense jurist who is no one to play with.
Calling on Young to vacate his house seat is one of the few things that Ohio House Republicans and Democrats have agreed on lately. House Speaker Jason Stephens asked Young to resign after his initial arrest in July, but he refused.
No one can make him quit, but last week Stephens stripped Young of his position as chair of the House Pension Committee and the $9,000 in extra money that goes along with it.
It isn't the first time Young has been involved in a domestic incident, it's just the first time there have been actual consequences for it. According to media reports, deputies were dispatched to Young's home in 2020 to investigate a physical incident. No arrests were made.
Had Young been convicted of a felony back then, it would have rendered him ineligible to serve in the House.
Yet, during that same year, Young ran ads falsely accusing a political opponent, Green Councilman Matt Shaughnessy, of having a domestic violence conviction.
You should have such audacity.
Shaughnessy is suing Young, but the damage is done. Who knows how many votes he lost because some voters believe it.
People railing about two tiers of justice are right, just not in the way they think. We found ourselves in precarious place, one in which some people who are literally being paid to make and uphold laws are flouting them with impunity, and all but daring the rest of us to do something about it. (See: Householder, Larry.)
They regard their positions of power as personal possessions, not as a means to serve. Their conduct not only makes mockery of public service and the law, it feeds into mistrust, conspiracy theories and cynicism, and threatens to erode the foundational premise essential to every democratic republic, namely, that no one is above the law.
No matter how many times we hear otherwise, there remains a stubborn belief that domestic violence is the purview of the poor; that well-mannered, middle-class and wealthy people in safe neighborhoods don't engage in such behavior, but nothing is further from the truth.
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Young is innocent until proven guilty, but there is precedent and a pattern of behavior that cannot and should not be ignored. He has argued that his behavior was inappropriate and alcohol-fueled — but not criminal.
In a letter to the Akron Beacon Journal, Young revealed that he's in counseling. That's all well and good, but it doesn't paper over the the fact that Young's life is mess, and that his behavior and attitude have overshadowed any good he has done in public service.
Enough already. He needs to go.
∎ If you or someone you know needs help in a domestic violence situation, call the National Domestic Violecne Hotline 24/7 at 800-799-7233 or text START to 88788.
Charita M. Goshay is a Canton Repository staff writer and member of the editorial board. Reach her at 330-580-8313 or charita.goshay@cantonrep.com. On Twitter: @cgoshayREP
This article originally appeared on The Repository: State Rep. Bob Young makes mockery of the law, public service
