Lisa McCrary-Tokes, alongside her husband Toby Tokes, speaks at press conference Wednesday at the Ohio Statehouse as representatives Kristin Boggs and Jim Hughes look on. Credit: Zach Varda | Lantern Reporter
The parents of Reagan Tokes joined state representatives and senators Wednesday in a press conference at the Ohio Statehouse to introduce the Reagan Tokes Act.
The act focuses on fixing some of the shortcomings in the criminal justice system that Tokes’ family and Ohio lawmakers say led to the rape and murder of Tokes, an Ohio State student, in February.
“When we have a breakdown of our system in which one of our youngest and brightest are in danger, it is important that we pass legislation like this,” said state Sen. Sean O’Brien, one of the bill’s sponsors.
The Reagan Tokes Act is separated into two Senate Bills and one House Bill, which focus on different justice system provisions including stricter sentencing, re-entry programs, workload of parole officers and GPS monitoring.
She was a person that loved life more than anyone I know, and it is apparent in every picture you see of her. That beautiful beaming smile, it would light up and electrify a room when she entered it. The spirit and energy that was behind that smile was even more powerful, and if you were lucky enough to experience it, then you were the recipient of an amazing gift. – Lisa McCrary-Tokes.
“Love is a gift from God and it is inscribed on the hearts where it shall remain forever,” said Lisa McCrary-Tokes, Tokes’ mother. “It is because of this love we have for our daughter that we stand before you with this legislative team to ask for your support to help us in efforts to get the Reagan Tokes Act moved through the Ohio House of Representatives and the Ohio Senate to be voted into law.”
McCrary-Tokes said her family chose to “lean into [its] faith” and advocate for change because her family knows it is what Tokes would have wanted.
“She was a person that loved life more than anyone I know, and it is apparent in every picture you see of her,” McCrary-Tokes said. “That beautiful beaming smile, it would light up and electrify a room when she entered it. The spirit and energy that was behind that smile was even more powerful, and if you were lucky enough to experience it, then you were the recipient of an amazing gift.”
Ohio State gave the Tokes family a posthumous degree in Reagan’s name in May at Spring Commencement.
Joining the Tokes family and O’Brien in speaking at the press conference was state Sen. Kevin Bacon as well as state Reps. Jim Hughes and Kristin Boggs, sponsors of the legislation. Bacon opened the press conference by explaining that the goals of the legislation are stricter sentencing of violent offenders, electronic monitoring and re-entry standards.
The goal of the legislation is to incentivize felony offenders to reform themselves while in prison, Bacon said, while also keeping the offenders behind bars longer if they do not reform. Additionally, the legislation would intensify electron monitoring and re-entry programs for violent offenders set to be released from prison, he said.
Hughes said the act is about trying to make sure tragedies like Tokes’ death do not occur again.
“Reagan Tokes had her whole life ahead of her as a bright, young, intelligent, hardworking student. She was taken from this earth much too early,” Hughes said. “It is our goal with this legislation to make sure this never happens again. We may not be able to change the past and the horrible thing that took place and the horrible thing that occurred with Reagan, but what we can do is join together and make a difference through this legislation.”
Each speaker discussed a different function of the bill, and Hughes focused on indeterminate sentencing, which would give offenders sentences with an undetermined length based partly on behavior during incarceration.
Hughes said Brian Golsby, a convicted sex offender who is the alleged murderer in Tokes’ case, had been “shuffled” between five different prisons and committed 52 infractions while incarcerated. Hughes said offenders will receive a sentence with a minimum and maximum sentence with the maximum being no more than 150 percent of the minimum.
O’Brien’s time at the podium was dedicated to focusing on re-entry programs and parole officers. He said ex-felons can’t be released homeless onto the streets and parole officers’ dockets must be manageable, which were faults legislators identified in the Tokes case.
Boggs, whose district includes Ohio State’s campus, talked about the need for GPS restrictions to accompany monitoring, which would be required under the Reagan Tokes Act.
Golsby was under GPS monitoring the night of Tokes’ murder.
GPS restrictions would alert monitors via text or signal when the person it tracks goes into a restricted area, she said. Currently, restrictions are not required for GPS trackers. Currently, an “adult parole authority” would place any requirements, Boggs said.
“Without restrictions an offender can go anywhere, anytime, any place and do anything and the data that is being collected by the GPS monitor has no context, it has no meaning without restrictions,” Boggs said.
Many of the legislators spoke to the character of Tokes, as did her mother.
“I stand before you today a heartbroken mother. Alongside my husband as devastated parents and representatives of a family, a family unit that has been decimated by sheer evil, violence and hatred that took the life of our beautiful vibrant kind and loving Reagan Delaney Tokes,” McCrary-Tokes said. “Reagan was the true embodiment of love and light amongst darkness in this world.”
Addressing the media for the first time, McCrary-Tokes spoke highly of her daughter and gave a plea for support to help get the bill through the Ohio House of Representatives and the Ohio Senate.
“Change can occur if we partner together and promote it,” McCrary-Tokes said. “Change can conquer tragedy.”
