Hernandez Suicide Prompts Sen. Eldridge To Highlight Proposed Bill

MASSACHUSETTS—Reacting promptly to the news of the suicide of Aaron Hernandez at the Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center in Shirley early Wednesday morning, State Sen. Jamie Eldridge pushed a bill he sponsored to the forefront.

Hernandez, the former New England Patriots tight end serving life without parole for murder, was found dead in his prison cell early Wednesday morning, apparently using a bed sheet to hang himself. Hernandez had been acquitted of a 2012 double-murder just five days ago.

Senator Eldridge spoke to media outlets outside the corrections facility on Wednesday, and also posted on his social media accounts a reminder of his proposal for a bill that would address suicide among prisoners and correction officers in Massachusetts.

Referred to the committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security in January, the resolve was established, declaring that there would be a special commission to study the prevention of suicide. The committee will include multiple members, including the secretary of the executive office of public safety, five people appointed by the governor, and many representatives who work in suicide prevention.

With a thorough review of its findings in place, the "commission shall submit its findings and recommendations relative to suicide prevention, together with drafts of legislation necessary to carry those recommendations into effect, by filing the same with the clerks of the house of representatives and senate, the house and senate committees on ways and means, the joint committee on public safety and homeland security, and the joint committee on mental health and substance abuse not later than March 31, 2019."

Eldridge represents a district that includes Shirley, where the correctional center is located, as well as 13 other communities that includes Northborough, Westborough, Sudbury, Marlborough and Hudson.

Eldridge discussed with media the size of the solitary cells at the Shirley prison, and the limited access those prisoners have to other human contact.

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