Retired Ohio chief justice joins alliance to preserve independent judicial branch

Former Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor is spending her retirement tending to a new puppy, and fighting to preserve the judicial branch of the United States.

The longtime Ohio judge and former lieutenant governor has been spending her retirement working to improve her profession and the government surrounding it.

Since leaving the center chair on the state’s highest court at the end of 2022 due to age limits, O’Connor has sat on task forces and international constitutional court advisory groups, and was a figurehead in an effort to change Ohio’s redistricting process from the current politician-led Ohio Redistricting Commission, to a citizen-led panel.

She left the court vehemently protective of the independence of the judiciary, and insistent that judges remain impartial and apolitical. She spent her career standing on the issues and fighting politicization of the judiciary, no matter who she might offend in the process

‘Judges don’t have a constituency’

When lawsuits over congressional and statehouse redistricting came to the Ohio Supreme Court, O’Connor was criticized for standing with the majority in rejecting five different statehouse maps and two congressional maps as unconstitutional.

A known registered Republican, she received letters from fellow party members saying she was “not acting like a Republican.” She even faced impeachment threats from fellow Republicans

“I wanted to say there’s no higher compliment to say that I’m not acting like a political figure,” O’Connor told the Capital Journal. “Those letters just crystalized the thought of people who don’t understand that judges don’t have a constituency. If they bring their politics into the courtroom, they don’t deserve to wear the robe.”

With that in mind, it wasn’t a hard decision for O’Connor to join a new national effort called the Alliance to Protect Judicial Independence.

The group of more than 40 former state chief justices, brought together by the nonprofit group Keep Our Republic, plans to promote civic education and “safeguarding the constitutional balance envisioned by the Founders,” according to a press release announcing the group.

While active judges are ethically bound to remain impartial and be careful in expressing opinions to the public, the alliance of former judges has a different power.

“We are liberated from that because we are no longer sitting judges and we can speak out,” O’Connor said.

An open letter also released by the alliance emphasizes the importance that judges answer to the rule of law, much differently than elected officials who serve a specific district or area. The judges are also fighting against attacks by those see the judiciary as “just another political branch.”

“Such attacks undermine the integrity of the rule of law and threaten the promise of equal justice,” the letter states.

The attacks on the judiciary can be in the form of physical attacks, but O’Connor said verbal attacks by way of discrediting the integrity of a judge or pressuring judges to rule in a certain way have dangerous impacts on the entire system.

“I think there’s a sense, when our leaders foment the idea that judges are biased, judges are corrupt, judges are not judging according to the law … it’s a trigger for people to maybe step it up, and that can take a lot of forms,” O’Connor said.

While she said receiving criticism from those disgruntled by a particular decision or conviction “comes with the job,” those with a pulpit to sow more broadly negative ideas about the judicial system shouldn’t be working to damage it so comprehensively.

“I’m talking about people that have a platform, that use that platform to denigrate the judiciary, and they single out one judge because of their ruling, but they do it multiple times, and that undermines the public’s faith in the judiciary,” O’Connor said.

The former chief justice said the alliance’s plan is to educate and restore respect for the judiciary, which can be the most forgotten when it comes to elections.

She said “drop off” on ballots — when voters don’t vote on particular candidates because they’re lower on the ballot or seemingly less important — is a major issue in judicial races. Because judges aren’t able to campaign in the same way as a governor or a state representative, for example, they aren’t seen as much and can often be seen as less important.

“I’ll tell you, most people don’t deal with the judiciary, they don’t care, but they don’t understand the extent of how judges impact their lives,” O’Connor said.

It’s a good thing when an individual hasn’t had to face a jury trial, or hasn’t had to deal with a divorce or custody battle, but O’Connor said the fact that everyone has a connection to someone who has had to deal with those issues.

Along with more widespread issues like redistricting or constitutional challenges, it shows the vital role of the courts, she said.

“It’s extremely important for people, even if they themselves are not going to be in divorce court … for the sake of the community, it’s so important to have a qualified judge in that position,” she said.

Politics, judges and 2026

Ohio judges face a different challenge. One thing “I despise,” O’Connor said: Ohio law that requires a political affiliation on supreme court and appeals court candidates.

O’Connor was chief justice at the time the legislation was introduced, and she said former state Rep. Bill Seitz asked her about it as he pushed for the move.

“It was the result of the loss of some Republican judges,” she said. “(Seitz) talked to me about it, I said ‘This is not a good idea,’ but the legislature did it.”

The move to add a party affiliation to even a few judicial races “diminishes the independence of the judiciary, because people then have in their minds that this person is political,” according to O’Connor.

While some have argued that placing political parties on the ballot helps inform voters about the judges’ legal philosophies and thought processes, judges in the alliance believe a push to bring politics into the judiciary will only hamper the ability for the system to act as intended.

O’Connor pointed to political leaders, public discourse, and the media as sources for the politicization of the judiciary, and said it “truly should not matter.”

“There’s media and there’s also disgruntled citizens who will foment that kind of perception that the judge made the decision and their politics entered into it, and that in a nutshell is what the problem is,” she said.

But as the 2026 elections loom large on the horizon, political divisiveness that is prevalent in the U.S. is leading to a larger movement to make changes, according to the retired chief justice.

“There’s just something about what’s happening in America that people are — I’m not going to say it’s just one thing, it’s a different motivation for different people,” O’Connor said. “But it’s all the same: ‘We’ve got to do something, we can’t let this go on.’”

As to her own politics, O’Connor readily acknowledges “this is not the Republican Party that I joined so many years ago.”

“Here’s the biggest difference: there was compromise; that wasn’t a dirty word,” she said. “And people were willing to compromise, and join forces, and speak to one another in civil tones both in public and in private, and that has disappeared.”

The alliance working to secure an independent judiciary and educate the public is “fired up” to take on the role in the new year, an energy she doesn’t see in the general government and the Republican majorities.

“I would love to see the Republicans just get a backbone and go back to what I think is morally their responsibility, not just constitutionally, but morally, and they just don’t,” O’Connor said.

She said members of Congress have “abdicated their role in so many areas.”

“I’ve talked to individual congressmen and they say the same thing, that they don’t agree with what’s going on, and my response is, ‘Then do something, stand up, speak out,’” she said.

To that end, O’Connor says she plans to spend the next year of her retirement working to help voters and her colleagues in the judicial system.

“Instead of just complaining, we’re doing something,” she said.

Ohio Capital Journal is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Ohio Capital Journal maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor David Dewitt for questions: info@ohiocapitaljournal.com.