Dear Editor,
I greatly enjoyed Neil Bortz’s tribute to Stan Aronoff (7 Mar 2024). There must be hundreds of Ohio Jews who have Stan stories. Here’s mine. It’s early 1970s, I’m a police officer attending a party at Losantiville C.C., Stan is the Ohio Senate President and facing driving under the influence charges in Columbus. In a conversation with him while going through the salad bar, he says he is will plead not guilty indicating a fear of what they will do to him if he’s incarcerated. I tell him a NG plea is calling the arresting officer a liar as the AO has sworn to the facts and the court can’t condone that. Thus, if he goes to trial, it will be almost impossible to win and he will be sentenced to time behind bars. I further tell him that pleading no contest and apologizing to the officer, the court and the public it will surely result in no jail time. He takes my advice and receives a suspended sentence and a fine.
Now it’s the late 90s and I was involved in an effort to bring concealed carry to Ohio, but the Republican legislature had kept a concealed carry bill in committee because the Republican Governor had promised to veto it. Though the Senate had enough votes to override a veto they would not do so as it would embarrass the Republican Governor. At another Losantiville party, it was my turn to seek favor from Stan. He told me to set up an appointment to discuss the matter at his Cincinnati office. At this meeting, I presented the case for concealed carry licensing adding the significance of the need for Jews to be able to carry firearms. It was during this time that riots had besieged many cities and there was talk of Jews (as scapegoats) being the cause. Therefore, the bill should at least be given a vote in the Ohio Senate. Stan Aronoff was powerful and politically savvy — and a man of his word. Shortly thereafter, as Senate President, Stan ordered the bill brought out of committee and voted on in the full Senate. It passed with a veto proof margin and though the governor vetoed it, the voters and Senators now knew where everyone stood.
In the meantime, a case challenging the constitutionality of Ohio’s concealed carry laws, in which I was lead plaintiff (Klein vs. Leis), worked its way to the Ohio Supreme Court. There is no question in my mind, or the attorneys, that the Supreme Court confidentially contacted someone in the legislature implying that if the state wasn’t going to pass a concealed carry licensing law, the court would rule the current laws were unconstitutional — a condition no one desired. The legislature soon passed a licensing procedure … and due to Stan’s influence … the Governor signed it.
Thanks, Stan. What’s your Stan story?
Chuck Klein
Georgetown, OH