U.S. Vs. Ohio Constitution Essay, Research Paper

The Constitution of the United States established a representative form of government because at least on e section of government was to be elected directly by the people. The constitution set forth a limited government including the bill of rights. This living document is flexible to new times and circumstances. There are many similarities of the United States Constitution, to the constitution of the individual states. One of these examples is the state of Ohio s constitution and the comparison of the preamble and bill of rights of both.

The preamble of the constitution of the state of Ohio reads, We the people of the State of Ohio, grateful to Almighty God for our freedom, to secure its blessings and promote our common welfare, do establish this constitution. In comparison to the constitution of the United States, this is a less detailed constitution, but is still devout to God and common welfare. In the preamble of the U.S. Constitution, there are more specific details involved. These include things such as a more perfect union justice domestic tranquility common defense general welfare and blessings of liberty.

While in the constitution, the first amendment calls for freedom of religion, speech, press and such, Ohio s first amendment calls for right to freedom and protection of property. As the US constitution continues with military concerns in the next three amendments, the Ohio constitution speaks of the right to reform, alter or abolish government, the right to assembly and the right to bear arms. The fifth amendment in both constitutions deals with trial by jury and the grand jury. This idea is carried through the US constitution up through the ninth amendment, mentioning such things as no required excessive bail, and constitutional rights not being taken from anyone. As similar in the Ohio constitution, granting the writ of habeas corpus, and bailable offenses.

As the bill of rights in the constitution of the United States only involves ten amendments, the bill of rights of the state of Ohio has double the amount of amendments. The Ohio constitution continues in regards to some things that are mentioned already in the US constitution. For example, the eleventh amendment in Ohio considers freedom of speech and of the press, and the thirteenth of the quartering of soldiers. The rest of the bill of rights of Ohio s constitution also includes transportation and such responsibilities of the state for crime, search and general warrants, no imprisonment for debt, hereditary privileges, suspension of laws and powers reserved for the people.

The basic structures of the preamble and the bill of rights to both the constitution of the United States and that of Ohio are very similar and address many of the same issues. The Ohio constitution, as with many other state constitutions, is much more detailed than that of the US. This is logical in the sense that the US must be more general in governing not such a specific lot of people and to be open for change in times. While the Ohio constitution must also constrict to modern times, it s bill of rights holds more law and decisions in number and detail.