As alumni, students, and affiliates of the Yale Law School, our mission is to uphold the rule of law, honor factual truth, and practice public leadership grounded in ethical responsibility and human dignity.

We write to express our profound outrage, moral condemnation, and unequivocal disavowal of the political tactics deployed by Ohio Republican gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy (J.D. 2013) and defended by Vice President JD Vance (J.D. 2013) in the 2026 Ohio gubernatorial election.

The Facts

In mid-October 2026, Vivek Ramaswamy’s gubernatorial campaign launched a television and digital attack ad featuring Donna Arthur, the estranged mother of his Democratic opponent, Dr. Amy Acton. In the ad, Arthur brands her daughter a “liar” and attacks her credibility. 

The ad weaponizes an estranged family relationship while deliberately ignoring documented facts: 

1. Documented rape indictment & custody removal: As investigated and reported by The Washington Post, Cleveland.com, and CNN, court records and historical law-enforcement documents reveal that Donna Arthur lost custody of Amy Acton in 1978 after Arthur’s then-husband—Acton’s stepfather, Cledith Arthur—was arrested and indicted by a grand jury for repeatedly raping Acton when she was a child between the ages of nine and 12.
2. Stepfather previous charged: Dr. Acton’s stepfather had been previously charged with sexually assaulting his own biological daughter.
3. Mother sided with the accused: Historical records confirm that the state intervened to remove Acton and her brother from the home for their protection. Donna Arthur sided with the indicted stepfather—who jumped bail and fled the state rather than face justice—and remained married to him until his death. Dr. Acton has had no contact with her mother since she appeared in a courtroom as a child in the late 1970s. So Donna Arthur is calling a “liar” a daughter she last saw when the girl was 12.
4. Dr. Acton’s brother corroborates her account: Dr. Acton’s younger brother has spoken out publicly about the abuse that both he and his sister experienced. He credits her with saving his life.
5. Weaponizing trauma: Rather than engaging in substantive policy debate, the Ramaswamy campaign actively sought out and amplified the testimony of an estranged parent who failed to protect her child from documented sexual violence, using that trauma as political ammunition. Ramaswamy has even called Dr. Acton “flawed” because of what she experienced, and derided her for “complaining.”
6. Defense and endorsement by classmate JD Vance: When the ad sparked bipartisan condemnation—including rebukes from Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, who called the ad “deeply, deeply disturbing” and demanded its removal—JD Vance (J.D. 2013) dismissed public disgust and said he was “disgusted” with fellow Republicans for “whining” about the advertisement. He said it was “not [his] concern” about whether the ad was “appropriate.”
   
   

Why we must speak out

Vivek Ramaswamy and JD Vance both graduated from Yale Law School in the Class of 2013. Their degrees carry the imprimatur of an institution that prepares leaders who advance justice and ethical public service. 

There is a line between sharp partisan competition and leveraging childhood sexual abuse for personal and electoral gain. Elevating an estranged parent who protected an indicted rapist over her own child—just to score short-term electoral points—does not just degrade political discourse. It re-traumatizes survivors of sexual violence, revictimizes those who escaped abusive homes, deters sexual-abuse victims from coming forward, and shows a callous disregard for basic human decency. 

Lawyers are trained to examine the record, weigh witness credibility, and uphold the standard of evidence. For two trained attorneys to knowingly exploit this domestic tragedy while disregarding verified court documents and public records is an affront to the values of legal integrity we were taught in New Haven.

We refuse to remain silent while graduates of our law school drag America’s political life to such depths.

Our demands

We call on Vivek Ramaswamy and JD Vance to immediately change course:

1. Immediately withdraw and disavow the ad: Ramaswamy must pull the advertisement featuring Donna Arthur from all broadcast, cable, streaming, and digital platforms without delay. And he must disavow it.
2. Issue an unreserved public apology: Ramaswamy must publicly apologize to Dr. Amy Acton and to survivors of child abuse and sexual assault for turning childhood domestic trauma into an attack ad.
3. Identify and terminate all of those involved: For full accountability, Ramaswamy should publicly identify and terminate the services of all those individuals and entities involved in creating the ad.
4. Retract defenses of the smear tactic: JD Vance must retract his defense of the ad, acknowledge the verifiable legal records of the case, and denounce the political exploitation of abuse survivors.
5. Commit to public-policy-focused debate: Return the remainder of the campaign to the substantive policy issues facing the people of Ohio rather than engaging in personal cruelty. 

Sincerely,

The undersigned alumni, faculty, students, and affiliates of the Yale Law School (acting in our individual capacities).