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Caleb Stegall

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Caleb Stegall
Justice of the Kansas Supreme Court
Incumbent
Assumed office
August 29, 2014
Appointed bySam Brownback
Preceded byNancy Moritz
Personal details
Born (1971-09-20) September 20, 1971 (age 53)
Topeka, Kansas, U.S.
EducationGeneva 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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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]

Notes

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  1. ^ "Honorable Caleb Stegall". Archived from the original on July 8, 2014. Retrieved September 2, 2014.
  2. ^ David Klepper. "Caleb Stegall to be Brownback's chief counsel". Midwest Democracy Project. Archived from the original on July 27, 2011. Retrieved October 20, 2011.
  3. ^ Hanna, John (December 29, 2010). "Brownback names general counsel | Wichita Eagle". Kansas.com. Archived from the original on July 13, 2011. Retrieved October 20, 2011.
  4. ^ Tim Carpenter. "Stegall takes seat on Court of Appeals". Topeka Capital-Journal. Retrieved July 28, 2014.
  5. ^ Brian Lowry. "Gov. Sam Brownback names Caleb Stegall to Supreme Court". Wichita Eagle. Retrieved August 29, 2014.
  6. ^ Health Care Access Clinic 785-841-5760 (November 20, 2004). "Local conservative's Web site catching on nationally / LJWorld.com". .ljworld.com. Retrieved October 20, 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  7. ^ Tim Carpenter (December 28, 2010). "Dems question GOP hiring". CJOnline.com. Retrieved October 20, 2011.
  8. ^ "Kansas rejection of coal plant fires up backlash". Reuters. November 29, 2007. Archived from the original on January 27, 2016.
  9. ^ "Eight freed missionaries welcomed home". USA Today. February 19, 2010. Retrieved April 28, 2010.
  10. ^ Tim Carpenter (May 13, 2009). "State ethics fine reversed". CJOnline.com. Retrieved October 20, 2011.
  11. ^ Tim Carpenter (June 13, 2008). "Supreme Court hears Kline dispute". Topeka Capital-Journal.
  12. ^ Denis Boyles (May 30, 2008). "Supremely Wrong – Denis Boyles – National Review Online". Article.nationalreview.com. Archived from the original on June 2, 2009. Retrieved October 20, 2011.
  13. ^ "Supreme Court blisters Kline, orders return of abortion clinic records". Mobile.ljworld.com. December 5, 2008. Retrieved October 20, 2011.
  14. ^ "Residents sue to block KCK casino proposal". Kansas City Business Journal. March 26, 2008.
  15. ^ Health Care Access Clinic 785-841-5760 (October 29, 2008). "City delays decision on new homeless regulations / LJWorld.com". .ljworld.com. Retrieved October 20, 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  16. ^ Slater, Lindsey (June 18, 2009). "Superintendent renews contract of teacher who claimed he was fired because of his beliefs / LJWorld.com". .ljworld.com. Retrieved October 20, 2011.
  17. ^ Health Care Access Clinic 785-841-5760 (September 29, 2009). "Former Jefferson County commissioner faces theft charges / LJWorld.com". .ljworld.com. Retrieved October 20, 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  18. ^ Fray, Jesse (February 5, 2010). "Lawrence man charged after Sacred Journey investigation / LJWorld.com". .ljworld.com. Retrieved October 20, 2011.
  19. ^ "Jefferson County attorney candidate Caleb Stegall chats about primary election", Lawrence Journal-World, July 29, 2008.
  20. ^ "A Populist Prairie Fire From the Right?". RealClearPolitics. January 12, 2009. Retrieved October 20, 2011.
  21. ^ Kirkpatrick, David D. (July 17, 2004). "Young Right Tries to Define Post-Buckley Future". The New York Times. Retrieved April 28, 2010.
  22. ^ Tillow, Kay (February 19, 2010). "Rising Religious-Right Political Star Representing Released Baptist Missionary | MyFDL". Seminal.firedoglake.com. Retrieved October 20, 2011.
  23. ^ populist prairie fireArchived April 20, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  24. ^ "A wilderness vacation". The Economist. January 13, 2009.
  25. ^ Shorman, Jonathan; Bernanrd, Katie (November 30, 2022). "KS Supreme Court Justice Stegall leaves KU, cites uproar over conservative campus speaker". Kansas City Star. Retrieved December 14, 2022.
  26. ^ Stegall, Caleb. "The Restless Evangelicals". Touchstone Magazine. Retrieved July 27, 2013.
  27. ^ Dreher, Rod (2006). 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). p. 189.
  28. ^ "Country Party – Kansas Liberty". Kansasliberty.com. Retrieved October 20, 2011.
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Legal offices
Preceded by Justice of the Kansas Supreme Court
2014–present 		Incumbent
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