... some legal experts question the degree to which religious symbolism should be mixing with the official business of the state, including the workings of its justice system. (slaw.ca)
Justice is the proper business of the state. (firstthings.com)
When the outraged father's party does finally confront Othello and the officers who have come to summon him to the Duke's council chamber «upon some present business of the state,» and the blades of drawn weapons are gleaming in the torchlight, the Moorish general quells the threatened tumult with a relaxed yet magisterial authority: «Keep up your bright swords, for the dew will rust them.» (firstthings.com)