Law Commons^™

The History Of The One-Subject Rule Of The Ohio Constitution, John J. Kulewicz

Cleveland State Law Review

One hundred and forty-seven years after its adoption, the one-subject rule of the Ohio Constitution continues to generate debate. What emerges from its origin at the 1850-1851 Ohio Constitutional Convention, its early application in the Pim decision and its survival at the 1873-1874 Ohio Constitutional Convention, however, are the principles that the purpose of the rule is (1) to notify legislators of the content of bills on which they vote after having dispensed with the required reading; and (2) to avoid the joinder of unrelated measures that could not win separate support during the legislative process. The one-subject clause thus …