Ohio Supreme Court

Ohio Supreme Court says Issue 1 ballot language must be rewritten

BY: - June 12, 2023

The Ohio Supreme Court handed down a ruling Monday that ordered Issue 1’s ballot language to be rewritten. This gives a small win to opponents of the proposal to make it more difficult to amend the Ohio Constitution. However, it could also give a major win to supporters. On August 8, Ohioans will decide on Issue […]

The Ohio Supreme Court has a complicated history deciding on Ballot Board cases

BY: - June 12, 2023

Last week the Ohio Supreme Court sided with the Ohio Ballot Board decision to allow an abortion rights amendment to go forward as a single question. Opponents of the effort wanted the court to split it in two, but instead the justices deferred to the Ballot Board. That’s not always the case. Going back to […]

Ohio Senate approves emergency measure to codify bail rules

BY: - June 1, 2023

The Ohio Senate has approved a measure codifying court rules that govern how judges set bond. The step comes after a clause in last year’s cash bail amendment eliminated the courts’ ability to set its own rules. Senate President Matt Huffman hinted this may not be the last time lawmakers take a more active hand […]

Ballot measure making it harder to amend Ohio’s Constitution facing second lawsuit

BY: - May 25, 2023

The organization One Person One Vote has filed a new Supreme Court case related to an August amendment proposal looking to make it more difficult to change Ohio’s constitution. The organization has already challenged lawmakers’ attempt to place the question, which would raise the bar for voters to pass amendments from 50% to 60%, on […]

Last year’s cash bail amendment from lawmakers put Ohio’s entire pretrial release system in jeopardy

BY: - May 23, 2023

The cash bail amendment last year brought by Ohio lawmakers and approved in November directing judges to weigh public safety when setting cash bail inadvertently undermined the state’s entire bail system. Effectively every legal interest — prosecutors, defense attorneys, judges, the Ohio Bar Association, sheriffs, and the ACLU — agree on the proper course of […]

18 other states throw two cents into Ohio abortion ban lawsuit

BY: - May 16, 2023

Outside interests flooded into an Ohio lawsuit against the state’s six-week abortion ban, in the form of 18 other states filing a “friend of the court” brief supporting Ohio’s abortion ban law. While the Ohio Supreme Court is currently only considering a procedural case to allow the state to appeal a pause on the six-week […]

Fighting for appeal of Ohio abortion ban injunction, state attorneys argues merits of law

BY: - May 2, 2023

Amidst an Ohio Supreme Court case on whether to allow the state to appeal a pause in Ohio’s six-week abortion ban, the state’s attorneys also explained their stance on the ban itself and the challengers to it. While the basis of the court filing was procedural, requesting that the state’s highest court allow their appeal […]

COMMENTARY

Bipartisan opposition makes Ohio Republican August election, minority-rule power grab look absurd

BY: - April 26, 2023

More than 200 bipartisan groups, four bipartisan former Ohio governors, and Ohio’s entire system of bipartisan elections officials are all against a special August election proposed by Ohio Republican politicians to attack the power of voters and enshrine 41% minority rule over the state constitution. This week, current Ohio Republican Gov. Mike DeWine said he […]

Ohio Supreme Court hears case on transgender birth certificates

BY: - April 6, 2023

Justices on the Ohio Supreme Court heard the argument of a woman who was denied the ability to change her birth certificate to match her gender identity. Clark County resident Hailey Emmeline Adelaide applied for a change to the sex marker on her birth certificate in October of 2021, but the county’s probate court decided […]

Ohio Ballot Board fights back against abortion amendment lawsuit

BY: - April 5, 2023

The Ohio Ballot Board submitted its comments to the Ohio Supreme Court, pushing back against claims they abused their power in verifying a proposed abortion amendment to the state constitution. The Ohio Attorney General’s Office wrote a brief on behalf of the ballot board, saying its members “correctly refused to usurp the people’s power by […]

Ohio Ballot Board sued over approval of proposed abortion rights constitutional amendment

BY: - March 22, 2023

A new lawsuit claims the Ohio Ballot Board made the wrong call when they approved the validity of a constitutional amendment proposal on abortion. In the lawsuit, filed this week with the Ohio Supreme Court, Cincinnati attorney Curt Hartman asks the court to demand the ballot board vacate their March 13 decision, in which they […]

COMMENTARY

How favoritism has now infected our state’s last branch of government, the Ohio Supreme Court

BY: - March 16, 2023

Ohioans concerned about corruption in Ohio’s legislature and executive offices won’t find much comfort looking to the Ohio Supreme Court, which has now also been infected by favoritism for DeWine family friends and anti-abortion special interests. At the end of last year, Ohio Republican Supreme Court Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor was forced to retire due […]