The Worst Trump Judge In America Is James Ho | Balls and Strikes

As a matter of style I don't use hyperbole.  Balls & Strikes likes to shock.  But they're careful about facts.  So here is the first in a series.

Note that James Ho announced that he was boycotting Yale because of student protests there. - GWC

The Worst Trump Judge In America Is James Ho | Balls and Strikes

The only thing James Ho wants more than to play a cancel culture victim on TV is the Supreme Court nomination he hopes will follow.

LEGAL CULTUREFEDSOC TWELVE

BY JAMES LAROCK  JUNE 15, 2023

Welcome to the FedSoc Twelve, a Balls & Strikes series about some of Donald Trump’s most unhinged judicial appointees. These judges, whether in their legal opinions or their off-the-clock conduct, have continued to push Trump’s agenda from the bench, forming something of a life-tenured Originalism Caucus within the federal judiciary. This summer, we’ll be checking in on these men and women now that they’ve gotten a chance to spread their wings during the Biden administration—and as they fight to be first in line for a Supreme promotion the next time Republicans control the White House.
The Résumé

James Ho attended the University of Chicago Law School, where he was—prepare to be shocked—a member of the Federalist Society. After law school, Ho clerked for Jerry Smith, a Reagan appointee to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. He then worked in President George W. Bush’s Justice Department, first in the Civil Rights Division and then in the Office of Legal Counsel. At the OLC, he overlapped with John Yoo, with whom co-wrote a law review article arguing that the Geneva Conventions did not apply to anyone that the United States claimed was in al Qaeda or the Taliban.

Following this short stint aiding and abetting American war crimes, Ho worked for various Republican-controlled Senate subcommittees before clerking for known conflict of interest enjoyer Clarence Thomas. (Editor’s note: We began finalizing these profiles in May 2023 and do not know how many more Clarence Thomas-related ethics scandals have come to light since.)

After clerking for Thomas, Ho was briefly Solicitor General of Texas, succeeding now-Senator Ted Cruz, before moving into private practice at Gibson Dunn. And after several years of sticking up for the little guys like Texas oil companies and Wal-Mart, Trump nominated him in 2017 to the Fifth Circuit, which is the nation’s most conservative federal appeals court.

(Photo By Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)