December in even-numbered years is a busy time for the Ohio Supreme Court as it rushes to decide argued cases before the biennial change in the membership of the court, and December 2022 was no exception. In December, the court decided 20 cases that directly or indirectly involved the Ohio Constitution. These and other state […]
December is the Busiest Month (for the Ohio Constitution) Read Post »
The Court Decisions involving Ohio constitutional issues has been updated to include the balance of cases through the end of October 2022. In addition, the Pipeline has been updated, effective November 1, 2022, to reflect cases pending before the Ohio Supreme Court that involve issues under the Ohio Constitution.
Ohio courts are not bound by the case or controversy requirements of Article III of the U.S. Constitution in determining whether cases in the Ohio courts are justiciable, but they are free to look to federal principles in developing state justiciability requirements, including the ripeness requirement. Under the Reagan Tokes Law, O.R.C. 2967.271, which became
Unlike the Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which provides, in part, that “excessive bail shall not be required,” Article I, sec, 9, of the Ohio Constitution provides not only that “[e]xcessive bail shall not be required” but also that there is an affirmative or positive (but qualified) right to bail: “A person shall be
According to the most recently issued edition of Book of the States, the number of words in the Ohio Constitution has increased to 59,858, and Ohio now has the ninth longest state constitution in the nation. See General Information on State Constitutions, Book of the States, 2021 (Table 1.3). [General Information on State Constitutions] The
With Almost 60,000 Words, Ohio Now Has the Ninth Longest State Constitution Read Post »
The year 2021 represents the third consecutive year in which Ohio voters were not presented an opportunity to vote on any proposed amendments to the Ohio Constitution. In the first two decades of the 21st century, Ohio voters approved 18 of 31 proposed amendments to the Ohio Constitution. Of the 31, 16 were proposed by
No Proposed Constitutional Amendments on the 2021 Ballot Read Post »
The Ohio Constitutional Modernization Commission was terminated by the Ohio General Assembly on June 30, 2017. The Commission had been created in 2011 and was supposed to last for 10 years. The Commission’s purpose was a comprehensive review of the Ohio Constitution, which is the 10th longest in the country. In a column for the
Steven Steinglass: Commission Ends, But More Work Remains Read Post »
The Ohio Constitutional Modernization Commission, created in 2011 by HB 188, was scheduled to wrap up in 2021. However, the Commission has been eliminated early by the recent budget bill, HB 49 passed on June 28, 2017. The final meeting of the Commission occurred on June 8, 2017, and the final reports of the Commission
Ohio Constitutional Modernization Commission Ends After Six Years Read Post »
The most recent issue of the Ohio State Law Journal, volume 77, number 2 (2016) contains articles on state constitutional law, expanding on a 2015 symposium on the topic. The issue includes Constitutional Revision: Ohio Style, written by Steven H. Steinglass, Dean Emeritus and Professor Emeritus of Cleveland-Marshall College of Law, and current Senior Policy
New Article Examines Constitutional Revision in Ohio Read Post »
The Legislative and Executive Branch Committee of the Ohio Constitutional Modernization Commission discussed the one subject rule contained in the Ohio Constitution, as well as amending the Ohio Constitutional to reform Congressional Redistricting. See OCMC Press Release. View meeting materials, including expert reports, here.
OCMC Committee Discusses One Subject Rule, Congressional Redistricting Read Post »