1912 included big changes at the Supreme Court

The year 1912 has been in the news recently because of comparisons between the grounding of the cruise ship off the coast of Italy and the sinking of the Titanic 100 years ago.

We at the Supreme Court recall 1912 as a significant year too, but for different reasons.

That September, Ohio voters amended the state’s constitution based on recommendations that came from the 1912 Constitutional Convention. Some of those changes affected the Supreme Court, the Justices and the judicial branch overall.

For instance:
• The number of Justices serving on the Supreme Court increased from six to seven, the same number we have now.
• The position of Chief Justice was created as a separately elected office. Before then, the leader of the Supreme Court was known as the chief judge.
• For every court in the state, no matter where the judge served, the judicial term was set at six years.

These changes adopted in 1912 have survived for nearly 100 years. Our Ohio Constitution may be amended in the future and only time will tell if there will be more changes to the judicial branch or to the Supreme Court.