“Ohio business leaders must defend the rule of law”
When courts are independent, contracts are secure and investments are safe. Without it, talent leaves, companies hesitate, and economic growth stalls.
Richard A. Stoff, senior advisor of the Leadership Now Project and former founding president and CEO of the Ohio Business Roundtable, argues that Ohio business leaders have a stake in the Judges’ Bus Tour for Democracy—a July 8 Columbus event featuring sitting and retired judges, including former Ohio Supreme Court Justice Maureen O’Connor, alongside five of Ohio’s former attorneys general.
He writes:
“Respect for the rule of law and reliable governmental processes are among America’s greatest competitive advantages. Right now, both are under pressure.”
The judges on the tour—Republicans and Democrats together—are not making a partisan argument. They’re making a structural one: fairness matters. Rules shouldn’t bend for the powerful few. No one is above the law.
For business leaders, these aren’t abstract legal principles. They’re economic infrastructure. When citizens trust that contracts will be honored and disputes will be settled fairly, they stay. They invest. They build. When they suspect the system is rigged, they leave—taking their talent and their companies with them.
Ohio’s brain drain is already acute. The state is projected to lose more than 600,000 residents over the next 30 years. Young people want to live where their voices count and rules apply equally. If our courts lose credibility, that exodus will only accelerate.
Stoff emphasizes that business leaders across Ohio—Republicans, Independents, and Democrats—have spoken out against efforts to undermine judicial independence “not as a partisan cause. As a business one.”
The judges speaking in diners and courthouse squares this summer deserve more than admiration. They deserve our voice.
Published in The Columbus Dispatch | June 30, 2026
