C|M|LAW Library Blog

C|M|LAW legal writing professors Carol Broering-Jacobs and Jaime Bouvier put together an At a Glance Guide, which can help you quickly determine the proper citation and style under the Ohio Supreme Court’s new Supreme Court of Ohio Writing Manual (effective Jan. 1, 2012).  The At a Glance Guide can be found on the library’s  Ohio Courts Guide: Citation Formats for Ohio.  Attendees at the January 25  Tour Through the Supreme Court of Ohio’s New Citation Rules & Style Guide received the At a Glance Guide, as well as a very informative lecture on the guide, complete with audience participation in correcting a brief and real life examples of citation and style debacles.

If you missed the January 25 presentation, Professor Broering-Jacobs and Professor Bouvier will conduct another  Tour Through the Supreme Court of Ohio’s New Citation Rules & Style Guide on Wed, 02/08/2012 – 5:00pm – 6:30pm, in C|M|LAW’s Moot Court Room.  CLE credit is available.

Students would be wise to attend the presentation, as they may be using the new citation format at their clerking jobs this summer.  The Ohio Supreme Court recommends that attorneys use the citation format and style guide set out in the  Supreme Court of Ohio Writing Manual when submitting briefs to an Ohio state court.  Proper citations and style instill professionalism and  trustworthiness in your writing and often make it easier to read.

For a brief summary of  significant changes to the manual effective Jan. 1, 2012, see our prior post.

Just a few days ago a second proposed constitutional amendment with the aim of legalizing medical marijuana was certified by the Ohio Ballot Board. The Ohio Medical Cannabis Amendment was approved on January 24, 2012. The first proposed amendment to legalize medical marijuana was certified in October of 2011 and is known as the Ohio Alternative Treatment Amendment. Both of these amendments are issues that may potentially end up on the 2012 ballot in November.

The question is, what are the differences that distinguish these two proposed amendments? An article from The Columbus Dispatch neatly summarizes how the two differ. The major distinguishing feature is  that the Ohio Medical Cannabis Amendment leaves many details to be decided to a commission to be established later, while the Ohio Alternative Treatment Amendment writes these details into the Ohio Constitution.  For example, the Ohio Medical Cannabis Amendment itself incorporates no limits on the amount someone could possess nor restrictions on distribution – these are to be decided by a commission. The Ohio Alternative Treatment Amendment adds language to the Ohio Constitution that  the legal limit of marijuana an individual could possess would be 3.5 ounces and sellers could not locate themselves within 1000 feet of any school, church, recreation center, or drug rehabilitation facility.

Sixteen states as well as the District of Columbia have some form of medical-marijuana law. Will Ohio be the next state?   C|M|LAW Library tracks proposed amendments on the Ohio Constitution page.