Judicial activism at the Ohio Supreme Court has been a thing of the past since 2002. Unfortunately, 18 years after OIA, the insurance industry and business community worked to change the philosophical view of the Supreme Court through the ballot box, the Court is in jeopardy once again.
Thanks to the Ohio Supreme Court being primarily comprised of justices who practice judicial restraint, focusing their legal opinions on the constitutionality of Ohio’s laws and deferring policy matters to the legislature, Ohioans have enjoyed legal stability and predictability. This has led to Ohio having one of the most competitive, stable and affordable insurance marketplaces in the country. We have experienced a significant decline in frivolous lawsuits and damage awards.
The result – compared nationally, Ohio homeowners’ premiums ranked ninth lowest and auto premiums ranked 13th lowest, according to recent reports from the Ohio Department of Insurance and the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. Ohioans enjoy a combined savings of $576 from the national averages in part due to the stability of the legal system.
To protect Ohio’s insurance legal system, OIA is hosting a virtual event with Justices Judi French and Sharon Kennedy in their re-election bids for the Ohio Supreme Court.
Justices French and Kennedy have served 6-year terms and are now running to retain their seats on the Court and these races could not be more important to the philosophical makeup of the Court. OIA will be doing all that we can to inform members about these races and help spread the word about French and Kennedy prior to the election in November.
This is crucial because the candidates’ ability to get their message out via events has been stifled due to COVID-19 and the importance of these races will easily be overshadowed due to it being a presidential election year. Since we will not be holding in-person events for the remainder of the year, we will be holding a virtual event with the candidates on August 31st from 3-4 p.m. Please click here to register for the event.
