Guest columnist Bailey Williams is Policy Matters Ohio’s tax researcher and holds a law degree from the University of Cincinnati.
The Ohio Supreme Court has a responsibility to check unconstitutional, extremist legislation and uphold the will of voters.
Justices will have ample opportunity to live up to that responsibility in 2025:
Preemption and local control
State and local governments both are charged with advancing the welfare and wellbeing of their citizens. But what happens when state and local laws conflict?
Over the last few decades, the Supreme Court has abandoned deference to the Home Rule authority established in Ohio’s constitution, repeatedly allowing the state to encroach on local control.
The court has allowed state laws to preempt local firearm regulations, requirements that city employees live in the communities in which they work and residential work requirements on city contracts.
Our Supreme Court must recognize and protect the constitutional authority of local communities to advance the interests of their residents. Rubberstamping the actions of state government to preempt local regulation often hinders local legislation crafted by people with a direct understanding of the communities they serve.
Abortion
Since the reversal of Roe vs. Wade, Ohioans have made it clear that we believe that the right to have an abortion should be protected in our state constitution.
Millions of us voted for 2023’s Issue 1, which guaranteed that right.
When Issue 1 became law, it made Ohio’s previous six-week abortion ban unenforceable. A local court recently found that the ban violated the newly enshrined right to an abortion.
The attorney general may decide to appeal this decision; it could eventually come before the state Supreme Court.
Lower courts are now hearing lawsuits related to issues not directly addressed by the constitutional amendment, such as a 24-hour waiting period between initial visits and who can deliver abortion care.
These are likely to end up before the Supreme Court.
The amendment prevents the state from “directly or indirectly” burdening an individual from exercising their right to an abortion. The Supreme Court will be the final arbiter on the degree and type of burdens that are permissible.
Redistricting
The issue of redistricting will almost certainly be on the state Supreme Court’s docket in coming years.
The Ohio Supreme Court played a significant role in the redistricting process that occurred following the 2020 Census. The court initially ruled that congressional and state legislative maps produced by the Ohio Redistricting Commission were unconstitutional.
Nevertheless, Ohioans were forced to choose their elected representatives from these unconstitutional districts in the 2022 midterm elections.
Compromises have been made on both legislative maps. Slight changes were made to the State Legislative Districts to be used until the next census, while the same Congressional Districts will be used through the 2026 midterm elections.
Notwithstanding future changes or challenges to our legislative maps, it is almost certain the Supreme Court will see a legal challenge of some kind to the Congressional Districts the Redistricting Commission is mandated to redraw for the 2028 elections.
No matter their party, the justices on Ohio’s Supreme Court should do right by the voters who put them there by upholding the laws they pass.
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