wattWhen now-President Donald Trump appointed Texas attorney James Ho to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in 2017, prominent law firm Gibson Dunn, where Ho worked before his appointment, ) lawyers encountered a problem: how to replace the politically connected He. It turns out they didn’t even need to change his successor’s home address. Ho’s wife, Alison, moved into her husband’s position and his old office.
Meet Hoss.
Few outside the legal community have heard of the Hos, but the couple is linked to a U.S. Supreme Court case that will determine whether women can get mifepristone, a commonly used drug Medical abortion drugs. The court heard arguments in the case on Tuesday.
Ho served on a three-judge panel last summer that ruled to limit the use of mifepristone. Alliance Defending Freedom, the legal group behind the mifepristone case, made at least six payments to his wife, Alison, from 2018 to 2022. Allison is a powerful federal appellate lawyer who has argued before the Supreme Court and has deep ties to the conservative legal movement. This has led to an attack on abortion rights in the United States.
Stephen Gillers, an emeritus law professor at New York University and author of The New York Times, said the payments did not violate the court’s rules of conduct Lawyer regulation: Legal and ethical issues. But some court observers believe Mr Ho’s failure to recuse himself from the case illustrates why public trust in the judiciary is eroding. A recent survey found that 63 percent of judges noted a decline in the public’s positive perception of them.
“When Americans see a case like this – one that is clearly concocted and driven by special interests, and there is a clear connection between those interests and the judge in the case, it does a huge amount to the reputation of the court and to the public’s trust in the court. Damage.” said Alex Aronson, executive director of the nonpartisan group Court Accountability and former chief counsel to Democratic Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse.
James Ho wrote in an email to the Guardian that he “consulted our court’s ethics adviser before hearing the case and was told there was no basis for recusal. Regardless. , my wife’s approach is to donate her honorarium to charity.”
The Haughs are just one of a growing number of power couples in the conservative movement, in which the wife of a prominent official works behind the scenes to lay the groundwork for Republican policies that their spouse will govern or legislate. Erin, the wife of Missouri Senator Josh Hawley, was Alliance Defending Freedom’s attorney of record in the mifepristone case and argued the case before Mr. Ho. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas angered when he refused to recuse himself from a case involving the Jan. 6 insurrection and the Stop the Steal movement closely associated with his wife, Ginni Thomas into the legal profession.
For Aronson, these examples “are of serious concern in what is becoming an apparent pattern of coordinated activity by a number of couples within this extremist movement, including the Thomases, Hollis and Hawes.” .
Ho’s ruling contained passionate language, referring in one ruling to what he called “the moral tragedy of abortion.” He said protection orders in domestic violence cases “are often abused as a tactic in divorce proceedings and issued without any actual threat of danger”. Orin Kerr, Professor of Law, University of California, Berkeley, Tweet One of Ho’s opinions “reads like a politician’s op-ed rather than a legal opinion; judges should follow the law.”
In the mifepristone case, Ho, who supported overturning the FDA’s decision to relax restrictions on the drug, wrote: “Unborn babies are a source of deep joy to those who see them.” Parents eagerly share ultrasound photos with loved ones. Friends and family cheer when they see their unborn child. Doctors enjoy working with their unborn patients, but their aesthetics suffer when they miscarry.”
He angered legal traditionalists from the moment he was sworn in, when he chose to hold the ceremony at Harlan Crowe’s private library. ProPublica revealed that Harlan Crowe was a conservative megadonor who gave Clarence Thomas a ride on his yacht. and paid $6,000 a month in private school tuition for the judge’s grandnephew. In 2005, Ho served as Thomas’ staff.
Ho vowed to boycott the hiring of Yale Law School graduates as clerks after students interrupted a conservative speech on campus, noting that “cancellations and disruptions seem to occur with particular frequency” at the Ivy League school.
His scathing writings attracted attention while his wife, Allison, worked in obscurity, laying the legal foundation for conservative policies in her own right.
She appears frequently as a spokesperson for the Federalist Society, which leads conservative efforts to reshape the judiciary. She also works pro bono for the Christian right group First Liberty Institute, which describes its mission “to defend and restore religious freedom in our schools, churches and houses of worship, within the military, and throughout the public sphere.”
It’s unclear what ADF paid Ho, but ending abortion is a core goal of the organization. The organization helped craft Mississippi law that led to the Dobbs decision that overturned Roe v. Wade and ended the 50-year-old constitutional right to abortion.
Her husband’s financial disclosure lists the description “Academy” or “Liberty Summit” next to some of the payments. The ADF organizes a variety of legal training as part of its ADF Law Academy, which “combines outstanding legal training with a strong commitment to Christian principles” and the Young Lawyers Academy.
Alliance Defending Freedom did not respond to the Guardian’s request Inquiries sent to Gibson Dunn and requests to speak with Allyson Ho have not yet been answered.
Texas Sens. Ted Cruz and John Cornyn, both Republicans, appointed Allison to a state committee tasked with recommending and reviewing proposals to fill judicial vacancies. Neither Cruz’s nor Cornyn’s offices responded to The Guardian’s requests for names or dates of service on the Judicial Review Commission, or questions about what role, if any, Allison played in her husband’s nomination to the bench. question.
In 2023, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton hired Allyson and Gibson Dunn for $1,313 an hour (with a cap of $7 million) to represent the The state joins a 10-year legal battle in which a federal judge ruled Texas failed to protect foster children. Previously, the state had been represented by its own payroll attorneys. The move to hire Allison and her company signals that Texas may appeal the district court’s ruling to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals to fight back against a court order requiring Texas to comply with an appointed federal monitor. , to ensure the safety of vulnerable children in their care. The courtroom where Albert Ho is sitting.
Gilles, a professor at New York University, said the mifepristone case may be just the beginning of the Huo family’s influence.
“If Trump wins the election, you will see Ho on the Supreme Court nominee list,” he said. “He’s clearly conducting himself in a way that makes him a very prominent candidate for Republican administration.”
The appointment could once again leave an empty office — one that some may look to Allison to fill.
