A Letter from the Partnership Executive Director
Last week, Wisconsin elected a new left-leaning judge to its Supreme Court. Since then, I have received numerous questions from members and friends, all wondering how the election of a judge matters to businesses.
The Ohio Supreme Court is an incredibly important and highly influential institution for determining the laws in the state of Ohio. A court’s job is to determine how a law, passed by the legislature and signed by the Governor, is supposed to be applied and whether that law is in conflict with the State’s constitution. For instance, in 2005 the Ohio Supreme Court decided in Ohio Bar Ass’n v. Pearlman that business owners could represent themselves in small claims cases so long as they did not engage in any “lawyering” like cross-examining witnesses or drafting court briefs.
Decisions like these faithfully interpret the law while simultaneously providing small businesses with the freedom to choose how they pursue small claims cases without being forced to incur the excessive costs associated with hiring a lawyer. This is a perfect example of the court operating within the scope of interpreting what a law means.
However, courts can also abuse their discretion to such an extent that they become makers of law instead of their rightful role as interpreters of it. In a Connecticut case Kelo v. City of New London, a city condemned the home of an elderly woman in order to build a parking garage in place of her house as a part of a business development plan. By reinterpreting the meaning of the phrase “public use” in The US Constitution, the US Supreme Court found that the city could take a private citizen’s land as long as the legislature “rationally believed” there would be an economic benefit to the public.
Here, the court overstepped its bounds and acted as a maker of the law rather than its interpreter. As a result, the home was destroyed. That’s why it’s incredibly important to ensure the men and women we elect to our courts will faithfully interpret the laws and not attempt to “make” their own political version of the law.
This is why it’s so important that we publicly vet candidates during these elections. At the Christian Business Partnership, we make a great effort to help businesses learn about different candidates before major elections.
Last year, in August, we hosted Ohio Supreme Court Justices Megan Shanahan and Justice Daniel Hawkins for a business leader luncheon. We invited our Partnership members to learn about who they are and why it’s important for Ohio to take these elections seriously. Both Justice Shanahan and Justice Hawkins won their races, and we are now blessed to have Supreme Court Justices in Ohio who take both the Constitution and their duties on the Supreme Court seriously.
Warm Regards,
Monty Lobb
