The Buckeye Institute is one of six finalists for Atlas Network’s 2026 Templeton Freedom Award for its work on House Bill 15, Ohio’s best energy reform policy in a generation. Named for the late investor and philanthropist Sir John Templeton, the award honors his legacy by recognizing Atlas Network’s partner organizations for making innovative contributions to economic freedom and human progress. The Award will be presented in New York on November 12. 

The Buckeye Institute, joined by Mountain States Legal Foundation, filed an amicus brief in Association for Education Fairness v. Montgomery County Board of Education, calling on the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the case and tell Montgomery County Public Schools that discriminating against a group of students based on race to increase diversity is still discrimination and violates the equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitution. Pacific Legal Foundation represents the Association for Education Fairness.
 

The Buckeye Institute filed its second amicus brief in Craig v. Cromes, calling on the Ohio Supreme Court to foreclose Cuyahoga County’s home equity theft scheme. “When Moses Cleaveland laid out the plat map more than 200 years ago for the property where the plaintiffs in this case would live, he would have understood that the government cannot pocket the profits from the sale of property seized to settle a tax debt.” 

The Buckeye Institute proudly announced the triumphant return of its intrepid leader Robert Alt who journeyed to Russia and climbed the tallest mountain in Europe (Mt. Elbrus), fulfilling his longstanding goal of summiting the respective peak of each of the seven continents on Earth. “I set out eleven years ago to honor my late father and have now spread his ashes at the highest point on every continent.” 

The Buckeye Institute joined New Civil Liberties Alliance and Americans for Prosperity Foundation in filing an amicus brief in U.S. Department of Labor v. Sun Valley Orchards, calling on the U.S. Supreme Court to protect Americans from unconstitutional in-house government agency tribunals. “These in-house agency tribunals are a unique threat to civil liberties, acting as investigator, prosecutor, judge, and jury. Unsurprisingly, winning every time. This case offers the U.S. Supreme Court the opportunity to end the use of agency tribunals...” 

The Buckeye Institute filed its amicus brief in Clemente Properties, Inc. v. Pierluisi-Urrutia, calling on the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the case and tell Puerto Rico it cannot profit off the likeness of baseball hall of famer Roberto Clemente without the permission of his family, and that intellectual property—trademarks specifically—are protected as property under the Fifth Amendment’s takings clause.

In a new policy report, The Cost of Aging, The Buckeye Institute offers durable and cost-effective solutions to providing long-term care for Ohio’s aging population. With 2.2 million residents older than 65, and an elderly population that is growing faster than the national average, the need to address the state’s long-term care crisis is now. “The Buckeye Institute’s report offers policymakers a series of comprehensive recommendations that are essential for meeting demand and sustaining Ohio’s fiscal health.”

The Buckeye Institute filed its petition for writ of certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court in Ream v. U.S. Department of Treasury—one of Buckeye’s cases challenging the federal ban on home distilling. Buckeye argues that two federal courts—the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in Ream and the Fifth Circuit in Buckeye’s other home distilling case—McNutt v. U.S. Department of Justice—considered the exact same provisions and issued opposite opinions, setting up a compelling circuit split that only the U.S. Supreme Court can resolve.

The Buckeye Institute commented on the June 2026 jobs report from the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, saying, “Ohio’s unemployment rate declined to 3.6 percent in June. This decline, however, is due to another month’s drop in the labor force participation rate, down from 61.8 percent to 61.6 percent. While Ohio’s job market remains stronger than the national average…both the national and Ohio job markets are weaker as a result of workers who have stopped looking for jobs.”

The Buckeye Institute filed its amicus brief in Hershey v. Bossier City, calling on the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the case and tell government officials they cannot hide behind qualified immunity to protect them from the consequences of violating the First Amendment. “Government officials who threaten a man for peacefully distributing literature on a public sidewalk should not receive the same qualified-immunity protection as a police officer’s split-second, life-or-death decisions.”