Caleb Stegall Explained

Caleb Stegall
Office:Justice of the Kansas Supreme Court
Appointer:Sam Brownback
Term Start:August 29, 2014
Predecessor:Nancy Moritz
Birth Date:20 September 1971
Birth Place:Topeka, Kansas, U.S.
Education:Geneva College (BA)
University of Kansas (JD)

Caleb Stegall (born September 20, 1971)[1] is an American attorney and writer who resides in Perry, Kansas. He has served as the district attorney for Jefferson County, Kansas, and chief counsel to Governor Sam Brownback[2] [3] before he was appointed to the Kansas Court of Appeals.[4] On August 29, 2014, Stegall was appointed by Governor Brownback to the Kansas Supreme Court, replacing Nancy Moritz, who had been appointed by President Barack Obama to the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit.[5]

Early life

Born in Lawrence, Kansas, Stegall is a lifelong resident of Douglas and Jefferson counties, in northeastern Kansas.[6]

In Douglas County, Stegall attended and graduated from Lawrence High School in Lawrence, Kansas.

Law practice

When Stegall was appointed, the Kansas Democratic Party issued a release criticizing Brownback for the appointment because of his connection to the disbarred attorney Phill Kline.[7] He represented the State of Kansas in litigation with environmentalists over the permitting of coal-fired power plants.[8] Stegall represented eight American missionaries detained in Haiti following the 2010 Haiti earthquake who were accused by Haitian officials of trying to take children to the Dominican Republic without proper documentation.[9] In 2008, he successfully defended the former executive director of the Kansas Republican Party in a dispute over Kansas campaign finance rules.[10] In 2007, he was the lead counsel in the Kansas Supreme Court trial of former Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline based on perjury, an illegal file transfer, and misleading legal guidance.[11] [12] [13] In 2008, Stegall represented a group of residents against the public financing of casino operations in Kansas City, Kansas.[14]

In 2008, he represented a church that challenged local regulations on the church's operations as a homeless shelter.[15] In 2009, he represented a teacher who claimed not to have been rehired because of his conservative political beliefs.[16] As district attorney, he filed charges in 2009 against a county commissioner charged with theft by deception.[17] In 2010, he was involved with a federal and state investigation of a distributor of "ethnobotanicals" who was accused of selling a synthetic cannabis.[18]

He has worked as general counsel for Americans for Prosperity and on the executive committee of Audubon of Kansas.[19]

Politics

Stegall has been identified as an advocate for traditionalist conservatism and a "prairie populist."[20] In 2004, he was profiled on the front page of The New York Times[21] as one of a young generation of conservatives questioning Republican Party orthodoxy. On January 12, 2009, Stegall began his first term as Jefferson County District Attorney. He has been characterized by the blog Firedoglake as a "rising religious-right political star,"[22] has been suggested as a possible candidate for US Senate in 2010 by Rod Dreher,[23] and has been described as representing a new path for the Republican Party in the post-Bush years.[24]

In 2022, Stegall left his adjunct position at the University of Kansas School of Law, citing handling of a controversy over a conservative campus speaker.[25]

Religion

Stegall is a ruling elder in the Evangelical Presbyterian Church.[26] He has been described as a "lifelong conservative Presbyterian" whose faith and life are "strongly countercultural to mainstream Evangelicalism" although he still identifies himself as an evangelical.[27]

Writings

In 2003, Stegall created and founded, with others, an online journal of religion, politics, and culture called The New Pantagruel. In 2006, Stegall and The New Pantagruel were featured in Rod Dreher's book, Crunchy Cons, as leaders in the resurgence of traditionalist conservatism. Though The New Pantagruel was discontinued at the end of 2006, Stegall's writing continues to appear in conservative papers, magazines, and journals including National Review Online, Christianity Today, The Intercollegiate Review, The American Conservative, Taki's Magazine, and Touchstone Magazine. Stegall authors a semi-regular column on Kansas politics for the independent publication Kansas Liberty.[28]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Honorable Caleb Stegall . 2 September 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140708214008/http://www.kscourts.org/kansas-courts/court-of-appeals/judge-bios/Stegall.asp . July 8, 2014 . dead.
  2. Web site: David Klepper . Caleb Stegall to be Brownback's chief counsel . Midwest Democracy Project . October 20, 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110727082718/http://midwestdemocracyproject.org/blogs/entries/caleb-stegall-be-brownbacks-general-counsel/ . July 27, 2011 . dead.
  3. Web site: Hanna . John . Brownback names general counsel | Wichita Eagle . Kansas.com . December 29, 2010 . October 20, 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110713134611/http://www.kansas.com/2010/12/29/1651010/brownback-names-general-counsel.html . July 13, 2011 . dead.
  4. Web site: Tim Carpenter . Stegall takes seat on Court of Appeals . Topeka Capital-Journal . July 28, 2014.
  5. Web site: Brian Lowry . Gov. Sam Brownback names Caleb Stegall to Supreme Court . Wichita Eagle . August 29, 2014.
  6. Web site: Health Care Access Clinic 785-841-5760 . Local conservative's Web site catching on nationally / LJWorld.com . .ljworld.com . November 20, 2004 . October 20, 2011.
  7. Web site: Tim Carpenter . Dems question GOP hiring . CJOnline.com . December 28, 2010 . October 20, 2011.
  8. News: Kansas rejection of coal plant fires up backlash . Reuters . November 29, 2007.
  9. News: Eight freed missionaries welcomed home . USA Today . February 19, 2010 . April 28, 2010.
  10. Web site: Tim Carpenter . State ethics fine reversed . CJOnline.com . May 13, 2009 . October 20, 2011.
  11. News: Supreme Court hears Kline dispute. Tim Carpenter. Topeka Capital-Journal. June 13, 2008.
  12. Web site: Denis Boyles . Supremely Wrong – Denis Boyles – National Review Online . Article.nationalreview.com . May 30, 2008 . October 20, 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20090602123912/http://article.nationalreview.com/print/?q=NzM3MGM4ODEyNTM0MTA2YWJhODNhNzRlYjZiZDgyNjQ= . June 2, 2009 . dead .
  13. Web site: Supreme Court blisters Kline, orders return of abortion clinic records . Mobile.ljworld.com . December 5, 2008 . October 20, 2011.
  14. News: Residents sue to block KCK casino proposal . Kansas City Business Journal . March 26, 2008.
  15. Web site: Health Care Access Clinic 785-841-5760 . City delays decision on new homeless regulations / LJWorld.com . .ljworld.com . October 29, 2008 . October 20, 2011.
  16. Web site: Slater . Lindsey . Superintendent renews contract of teacher who claimed he was fired because of his beliefs / LJWorld.com . .ljworld.com . June 18, 2009 . October 20, 2011.
  17. Web site: Health Care Access Clinic 785-841-5760 . Former Jefferson County commissioner faces theft charges / LJWorld.com . .ljworld.com . September 29, 2009 . October 20, 2011.
  18. Web site: Fray . Jesse . Lawrence man charged after Sacred Journey investigation / LJWorld.com . .ljworld.com . February 5, 2010 . October 20, 2011.
  19. http://www2.ljworld.com/chats/2008/jul/29/caleb_stegall/ "Jefferson County attorney candidate Caleb Stegall chats about primary election"
  20. Web site: A Populist Prairie Fire From the Right? . . January 12, 2009 . October 20, 2011.
  21. News: Young Right Tries to Define Post-Buckley Future . . David D. . Kirkpatrick . July 17, 2004 . April 28, 2010.
  22. Web site: Tillow . Kay . Rising Religious-Right Political Star Representing Released Baptist Missionary | MyFDL . Seminal.firedoglake.com . February 19, 2010 . October 20, 2011.
  23. http://blog.beliefnet.com/crunchycon/2009/01/populist-prairie-fire-from-the.html populist prairie fire
  24. News: A wilderness vacation . The Economist . January 13, 2009.
  25. News: Shorman . Jonathan . Bernanrd . Katie . KS Supreme Court Justice Stegall leaves KU, cites uproar over conservative campus speaker . 14 December 2022 . . 30 November 2022.
  26. Web site: Stegall. Caleb. The Restless Evangelicals. Touchstone Magazine. 27 July 2013.
  27. Book: Dreher, Rod. Rod Dreher. Crunchy Cons: How Birkenstocked Burkeans, Gun-Loving Organic Gardeners, Evangelical Free-Range Farmers, Hip Homeschooling Mamas, Right-Wing Nature Lovers, and Their Diverse Tribe of Countercultural Conservatives Plan to Save America (or At Least the Republican Party). 2006. 189.
  28. Web site: Country Party – Kansas Liberty . Kansasliberty.com . October 20, 2011.