Ohio Constitution News

The surge in voter turnout for Ohio’s 2018 gubernatorial election will make it more difficult for Ohio voters to use both the constitutional initiative and the statutory initiative. Under Ohio’s direct constitutional initiative, amendment proponents must submit a petition with valid signatures from 10% of the voters in the most recent gubernatorial election. For the 2018 ballot, amendment proponents needed to obtain valid signatures from 305,591 or 10% of the voter turnout in 2014. The fact that more than 4,318,090 (unofficial vote count) voted in the 2018 gubernatorial election will have the effect of increasing to 431,809 the number of valid signatures needed to put proposed constitutional amendments on the ballot.

And the surge in voting will have a similar effect on the Ohio indirect statutory initiative under which proponents of a statute must obtain valid signatures from 3% of the voters in the most recent gubernatorial election. This number has increased from 91,677 to 129,543 (based on the unofficial vote count). And an additional 129,543 valid signatures must be obtained on a supplemental petition in the event the General Assembly does not adopt the proposed statute.

Cleveland-Marshall College of Law Dean Emeritus Steven H. Steinglass has published an op-ed in the December 25, 2017, Akron Beacon Journal, urging the General Assembly to give Ohio voters a chance to vote on proposals made by the Constitutional Revision Commission and its committees.  The online version of the article was also published in paper copy on December 26th under the title “Give voters a say on a trimmer Ohio Constitution.”

In 2011, the General Assembly created the Commission, a 32-person commission (composed of 12 legislators and 20 public members), to provide a comprehensive bipartisan review of the Ohio Constitution and to propose amendments to the General Assembly (which in turn could place proposed amendments on the ballot). In June 2017, the General Assembly moved up the sunset date for the Commission four years, and the Commission closed its doors on June 30, 2017. Though it did not complete its review, the Commission recommended the amendment or repeal of 21 obsolete or inappropriate sections of the Ohio Constitution, but the General Assembly has not acted upon these recommendations; thus, the voters have not had an opportunity to consider any of them.

In this op-ed, Steinglass identifies recommended provisions that are ripe for removal, including provisions involving state debt, the sinking fund commission, services for “the insane and dumb,” “voting by idiots and insane persons, and the use of gender-inappropriate language.

Steinglass concludes his op-ed by noting that if the General Assembly approves these recommendations, it will salvage some of the work of the Commission.  It will also permit the voters to shorten our 57,000-word constitution by more than 20% and relieve Ohio of the dubious distinction of having the tenth longest state constitution in the country.

This op-ed follows up earlier op-eds. In a July 9, 2017, Columbus Dispatch op-ed, Steinglass described the commission, its modest success, and its demise. In a guest column for Cleveland.com on October 9, 2017, he discussed the commission’s unfinished agenda. And in a November 16, 2017, Columbus Dispatch op-ed, he opined that the effort to modernize the Ohio Constitution was undercut by the decision to structure the commission to insure legislative control of it, by a lack of effective leadership, by the absence of a legislative commitment to constitutional revision, and by a corrosive partisan political climate.

On November 7, 2017, more than 82% of Ohio voters supported a proposed initiated constitutional amendment to replace Article I, Sec. 10a of the Ohio Constitution, with a new provision designed to further strengthen the rights of victims in the criminal justice process. The new provision, generally known as Marsy’s Law, seeks to expand the rights of crime victims to privacy and to treatment with respect, fairness and dignity; it further provides that such rights are to be protected as vigorously as the rights of the accused. For the text of the new amendment and the summary that had been submitted to the Secretary of State, click here.

Under Ohio law, the process for initiating a constitutional amendments begins with the filing of a petition (with 1,000 valid signatures) with the Attorney General. The petition must include the text of the proposed amendment and a summary of it, and the Attorney General is required to determine whether the summary is a fair and truthful statement of the proposed amendment. On September 15, 2017, the Attorney General provided the required certification, and the proponent—Stop Ohio Puppy Mills—is free to begin collecting the 305,591 required valid signatures (10% of the votes in the last gubernatorial election). Petitions with signatures must be submitted to the Secretary of State by July 4, 2018. If the requisite number of valid signatures are obtained, the Secretary of State certifies the signatures. Amendments proposed by initiative may only be on the fall general election ballot, and thus the earliest the proposal may appear on the ballot is November 6, 2018.

This detailed proposed amendment seeks to regulate puppy mills in Ohio and to insure that dogs have adequate exercise and socialization, adequate food and water, adequate shelter, and adequate veterinary care. These terms are all defined in the amendment, which also mandates that the General Assembly and the state department of agriculture revise all laws and regulations within 120 days of passage. Finally, the proposed amendment enumerates defenses to actions brought to enforce the amendment and exempts “hobby breeders” from coverage under the amendment.

Cleveland-Marshall College of Law Dean Emeritus Steven H. Steinglass has published an op-ed in the November 16, 2017, Columbus Dispatch describing how the Ohio General Assembly undercut the work of the Ohio Constitution Modernization Commission.

The General Assembly created the Commission in 2011 to provide a comprehensive bipartisan review of the Ohio Constitution and to propose amendments to the General Assembly, which in turn could place proposed amendments on the ballot. In June 2017, the General Assembly moved the sunset date up four years, and the Commission closed its doors on June 30, 2017.

In his latest op-ed, Steinglass, who served as Senior Policy Advisor for the Commission, described how the work of the 32-person commission (composed of 12 legislators and 20 public members) was undercut by the decision to structure the commission to insure legislative control, by a lack of effective leadership, by the absence of a legislative commitment to constitutional revision, and by a corrosive partisan political climate.

This op-ed follows up two earlier op-eds. In a July 9, 2017, Columbus Dispatch op-ed, Steinglass described the commission, its modest success, and its demise. here And in a guest column for Cleveland.com on October 9, 2017, he discussed the substance of the commission’s unfinished agenda.

The Ohio Constitutional Modernization Commission has ceased to exist, eff. 6/30/2017, but its work product is available for those who care about the future of the Ohio Constitution. The final reports of the Commission and its six subject-matter committees can be viewed on the Commission website (click here) and have been posted on the OCLH (OHIO CONSTITUTION LAW AND HISTORY) website along with selected research memoranda from each of the subject-matter committees. (click here)

On August 17, 2017, the Ohio Ballot Board prescribed the ballot language for the November 7, 2017, vote on a proposed initiated constitutional amendment to replace Article I, Sec. 10a of the Ohio Constitution, with a new provision designed to further strengthen the rights of victims in the criminal justice system. The proposal, which will be Issue 1 on the ballot, is the Ohio Crime Victims Bill of Rights, generally known as Marsy’s Law. If approved by the voters, this amendment will expand the right of crime victims to privacy and their right to be treated with respect, fairness and dignity; it will further provide that such rights are to be protected as vigorously as the rights of the accused. The Secretary of State had reviewed the signatures and concluded on July 17, 2017, that the petitioners had obtained more than the required 305,591 valid signatures needed to qualify the proposed amendment for the ballot. For a copy of the approved Ballot Language, click here. For the text of the proposed amendment and the summary that had been submitted to the Secretary of State before the beginning of signature-gathering, click here.