Friday, September 6, 2013

ICYMI: Sorting through the "chaos" resulting from the CLRA logrolling decision

As Oklahoma lawyers watch the special session, here is an excerpt from my July column on sorting through the "chaos":
[S]ince 2009, the Oklahoma Legislature has amended some of the statutes that the CLRA amended or created. In an interesting twist, these later amendments may save certain provisions of the CLRA, based on the same constitutional provision that the court relied on in striking the CLRA.
The single-subject rule, also known as the rule against logrolling, is found in Article 5, Section 57 of the Oklahoma Constitution. Section 57 also requires that the Legislature re-enact laws when it amends them. 
As an example, Section 3226 of the Oklahoma Discovery Code was amended three times since 2009. Each time, the Legislature set forth the statute in its entirety. As a result, it appears that the Legislature saved the CLRA’s changes to Section 3226, simply by complying with the Oklahoma Constitution in its later amendments. 
This twist may affect a number of the CLRA’s provisions. As a result, the term “re-enactment” may join “logrolling” as part of our vocabulary.