The State Court Project of the Brennan Center for Justice has been publishing essays on the constitution of each of the states. The Ohio essay, The Ohio Constitution: Its History and Its Future, written by Steven Steinglass, can be found at the following address: https://statecourtreport.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/ohio-constitution-its-history-and-its-future
Brennan Center Essay on the Ohio Constitution Read Post »
Infrastructure Bonds On May 6, 2025, Ohio voters amended the Ohio Constitution to authorize the issuance of $2.5 billion in general obligation infrastructure bonds to provide funds to help counties, cities, villages and townships pay for roads and bridges, sewage-treatment plants, water lines, solid-waste-disposal facilities, and storm and sanitary sewers for the next decade. No
The Ohio Constitution Law and History website, see link, has been enhanced with a new Table that should be of interest to those who follow the Ohio Constitution. The new Table of Initiated Constitutional Amendments Rejected by Ohio Voters, see link, collects the 53 rejected amendments in one place. The website also contains statistical information on
Those following state constitutional developments in Ohio can be read in my article on Direct Democracy: Ohio Style, 73 Clev. St. L. Rev. 101 (2024) (with Ernest M. Oleksy), which was published late last week. See link. The Article is an expansion of comments made in October 2023 at a Symposium on Democracy sponsored by
Steinglass on Direct Democracy and on the Ohio Constitution Read Post »
On October 22, 2024, in State ex rel. Cincinnati Enquirer v. Bloom, 2024-Ohio-5029 (2024), the Ohio Supreme Court rejected the “lockstepping” method of approaching the Ohio Constitution and limited t stare decisis in cases interpreting the Ohio Constitution. The “lockstepping” approach, which has been subjected to a devastating critique by Sixth Circuit Chief Judge Jeffrey
There have been some enhancements and updates to the Ohio Constitution Law and History website, see link, that should be of interest to those who follow the Ohio Constitution. Cases to Watch. This feature, Cases to Watch, see link, reports on cases in the lower courts of Ohio involving state constitutional issues. It has been
Ohio Constitution Law and History Website—Enhancements & Updates Read Post »
Cases to Watch is a new feature that has been added to the Ohio Constitution: Law and Historywebsite (link) and can be found by going to the Court Decisions menu on the website. Cases to Watch identifies cases that are pending in the lower courts of Ohio and that involve important state constitutional issues. The
Cases to Watch—Lower Court Cases Raising Ohio Constitutional Issues Read Post »
During the last two years, Dean Emeritus/Professor Emeritus Steven Steinglass has written several guest columns on the topic of partisan gerrymandering, the most recent of which was published on June 12, 2024, by the on-line Ohio Capital Journal. This column, The Business Case for Rejecting Ohio Gerrymandering (link), addresses the history of redistricting in the
Partisan Gerrymandering in Ohio—Guest Columns Read Post »
The Ohio Constitutional Law and History website (see link) has been enhanced by the addition of all joint resolutions introduced in the General Assembly since the 131st General Assembly in 2015–2016. As first adopted in the 1851 Ohio Constitution, the General Assembly may propose constitutional amendments to the voters through the use of joint resolutions, which must be
Website Enhanced with Addition of Proposed Joint Resolutions Read Post »
The current Ohio Constitution, the Constitution of 1851, is the sixth oldest in the country and the second oldest outside New England. States with older constitutions are: Massachusetts (1780). New Hampshire (1784), Vermont (1793), Maine (1819),and Wisconsin (1848). NOTE: Ohio voters approved the Constitution on June 17, 1851, and it became effective on September 1,
The Ohio Constitution—A Snapshot & the Plans for Ohio Constitution News Read Post »