Who’s Who on the Right-Wing Bench?

A look at conservative judges paving the way for Project 2025

In recent years, conservative judicial activists have steered lawsuits toward hand-picked Supreme Court justices and judges placed on federal benches including the Fifth Circuit Court covering Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi. There, conservative judges have stunned America with rulings that often advance arcane or ancient laws resurrected to apply to modern cases. That includes Dobbs, which overturned Roe v. Wade, and stripped women of the federal right to legal abortion, punting it to the states.

More recently, Texas State Bill 4, or SB4, drew global outcry, being among the most extreme anti-immigration bill introduced to date. It passed in November 2023 during a special Texas legislative session but has been put on pause by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals due to pending ACLU challenge. SB4 makes it a state crime to cross the Texas-Mexico border between ports of entry, with a possible punishment of six months in jail for a Class B misdemeanor if convicted, but up to 20 years in prison and a felony judgment for subsequent offenses. Migrants can avoid a conviction if they agree to return to Mexico. SB4 is one of a growing tide of bills and lawsuits pushing state’s rights over federal law – a battle cry of Project 2025 and right-wing politicians.

Not surprisingly, many of the key judges on the federal and state benches are closely linked to Project 2025’s architects and legal advisory groups, including The Heritage Foundation, Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF), American First Policy Institute, Center for Renewing America, Alliance Defending Freedom, and others now leading its arch-conservative judicial agenda.

A growing number are also Federalist Society members whose nominations were backed by dark money and back-door campaigns by right-wing billionaires including Catholic activist and lawyer Leonard Leo. He is the chair of the Federalist Society who is widely credited for hand-picking six SCOTUS justices, some from the Federalist bench, and a growing number of lower court judges. In Texas, Tim Dunn is the local businessman-kingmaker whose billionaire money shapes the legislative and judicial agenda. Dunn is also vice chairman of the TPPF.

Below are some of the key conservatives on the federal bench and a few state courts who are helping to pave the legal road for Project 2025 – and will keep doing that, regardless of who occupies the White House after November 2024. 

The Judicial System At-a-Glance

Federal Courts: The federal court system has three main levels. The highest is the Supreme Court; below it is the US Circuit Court of Appeals system, made up of 12 Regional Circuit courts, each covering several states, and a separate Federal Circuit. Then there are 94 lower district courts (the trial court). Each Circuit Court reviews appeals from the federal district courts within its region; district court cases are appealed to the corresponding Circuit Court of Appeals. The federal district courts are the general civil and criminal trial courts of the federal system, with at least one US District Judge, appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate for a life term.

The Federal Circuit has nationwide jurisdiction for specialized cases like patents and international trade disputes. Most appeals are heard by a three-judge panel from the circuit court. In some cases, a full court of judges in a circuit may rehear a case ‘en banc’ (in the bench). A petition for writ of certiorari can be filed asking the US Supreme Court to hear an appeal from a US Circuit Court of Appeals decision. There is no appeal as a right to the Supreme Court.

 State Courts: State Supreme Courts are the highest courts in a state's judicial system and primarily serve as appellate courts (handle appeals) for state district courts and other lower courts. Their decisions are generally final, subject to limited exceptions such as federal review. The state district courts are often led by a chief judge overseeing operations at the court. – ACD

The US Circuit Court of Appeals

Standout Conservative Judges and Cases

First Circuit (Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Puerto Rico)

  1.  Gustavo A. Gelpí, a Biden appointee is considered a more moderate conservative, but some of his rulings on immigration and criminal justice reform cases have angered progressives.

Second Circuit: (New York, Connecticut, Vermont)

  1. John M. Walker Jr. A 1989 Bush appointee. In New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. City of New York (2018), Walker was part of the panel of judges that dismissed a challenge to New York City's gun regulations. 

  2. Michael H. Park A 2010 Trump appointee. In Doe v. Abbott (2021), he was part of a panel that ruled against detained individuals in an immigration case that critics said undermined due process for asylum seekers. He supported gun rights in 2nd Amendment cases.

  3. William J. Nardini A 2019 Trump appointee and former federal prosecutor, he upheld a lower court ruling that banned certain forms of protest in Meyer v. Kessler (2021). He’s also supported voting rights restrictions in voter ID cases.

Third Circuit (New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Virgin Islands)

  1. Paul Matey is a 2019 Trump appointee who joined a 2021 panel ruling against a police whistleblower alleging gender discrimination that critics felt will deter future whistleblowers. He ruled to expand gun rights and limit state regulations in Second Amendment cases.

  2. Thomas Hardiman A 2007 Bush appointee that Trump considered for a Supreme Court nomination. He joined a 2015 ruling to affirm Ohio state’s authority to cut funding of Planned Parenthood, and has taken pro-business positions on labor cases.

  3. David Porter is a 2018 Trump appointee. He has ruled to uphold regulations limiting Pennsylvania mail-in voting (2021), stiffen requirements for abortion providers there (2019), and apply mandatory minimum penalties for drug offenses (2021).

Fourth Circuit (Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina)

Allison Jones Rushing A 2019 Trump appointee and former SCOTUS Justice Neil Gorsuch clerk, Rushing joined a majority to rule against transgender students using bathrooms corresponding to their gender identity in 2021, angering LGBTQIA+ advocates.

  1. Julius N. Richardson A 2018 Trump appointee, he sided with the majority upholding NC voter ID laws in a 2019 case seen as negatively affecting minority voters

Fifth Circuit (Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi). The Fifth Circuit’s importance derives from the willingness to consider conservative lawsuits and arcane laws and arguments that aim to change, reverse, or block national policies.

  1. Priscilla Richman A 2017 Trump appointee and ex-Texas Supreme Court judge, Owen ruled the Affordable Care Act (ACA) unconstitutional in 2020, upholding a lower court ruling, and argued against same-sex marriage rights in Bishop v. Smith (2014).  

  2. Don Willett A 2018 Trump appointee and vocal advocate for originalist legal principles. He ruled to invalidate parts of the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) in a 2021 case.

  3. Kyle Duncan A 2018 Trump appointee, he ruled to uphold Texas’s state authority to sharply restrict abortion.

  4. James Ho A 2018 Trump appointee, Ho ruled against DACA protections for dreamers in a 2021 standout case, and supported state challenges to federal immigration policies.

Sixth Circuit (Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee)

  1. Joan Larsen A 2017 Trump appointee, she backed a state challenge to federal immigration policies in 2020.

  2. Amul Thapar A 2017 Trump appointee, he ruled in 2020 to limit the EPA’s authority to apply Clean Air Act regulations to reduce emissions from coal-fired power plants in Michigan, viewed as a blow to the EPA’s federal enforcement power.

  3. John K. Bush A 2017 Trump appointee, he ruled against plaintiffs in 2021 who argued that Detroit Police Department practices led to racial profiling and more stops and arrests of Black individuals. Before Bush’s confirmation, Buzzfeed reported that Bush had likened abortion to slavery in a pseudonymous blogpost, writing that they were the “two greatest tragedies in our country.”

  4. Ralph B. Guy Jr. A Reagan appointee, he ruled against same-sex marriage in the 2015 Bishop v. Smith challenge case. In labor cases, he rejected the National Labor Relations Board’s authority to defend worker’s rights, and supported American Express in an antitrust challenge to its business practices.

Seventh Circuit (Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana). SCOTUS justice Amy Coney Barrett moved from the Seventh Circuit, where she was confirmed in 2017, to join the Supreme Court in 2020.

  1. Michael Brennan A 2018 Trump appointee, he succeeded Barrett. In 2019, he ruled in 2019 to limit claims against wrongful arrest by the police, and, in 2020, ruled to uphold the government’s authority in certain cases.

Eighth Circuit (North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas)

  1. David Stras A 2018 Trump appointee, he served on the Minnesota Supreme Court and was a clerk for SCOTUS Justice Thomas. Standout cases: in 2023, he ruled in favor of a religious waiver for a video company that refused to serve same-sex couples, creating a faith-based exemption in Minnesota anti-discrimination law. In July 2019, Stras ruled that a woman who used methamphetamines while pregnant could be charged with manslaughter, after her newborn died shortly after birth.  

  2. Jonathan A. Kobes A 2018 Trump appointee.

  3. Ralph R. Erickson A 2017 Trump appointee. 

  4. Steven Colloton A 2003 Bush appointee, he made a positive ruling that was applauded by civil liberties advocates when he ruled that the FBI’s planting of tracking device on the car of a criminal suspect without a warrant breached existing privacy laws.

Ninth Circuit: (California, Oregon, Washington, Alaska, Hawaii, Arizona, Nevada, Idaho, Montana, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands) The Ninth Circuit covers a large region.

  1. Lawrence VanDyke A 2020 Trump appointee. In a standout healthcare case, he upheld the right of the federal government under Trump to changes ACA rules that might lead to significant reductions in Medicaid benefits for vulnerable beneficiaries in California. 

  2. Kenneth Lee A 2019 Trump appointee. Lee backed an involuntary immigration deportation case and limited the scope of US environmental activists seeking to pursue legal cases for climate harms abroad.

  3. N. Randy Smith. A 2018 Bush appointee. He issued conservative rulings on gun rights, freedom of speech and religious rights, and voting rights.

Tenth Circuit: Wyoming, Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Utah, Oklahoma

  1. Timothy Tymkovich A 2003 Bush appointee. He ruled conservatively to support qualified immunity for law enforcement in a police violations case.

Eleventh Circuit (Alabama, Florida and Georgia)

  1. William H. Pryor A 2004 Bush appointee. The Chief Judge of this court is known for his support of government authority in immigration and state authority  in voting rights cases. He ruled positively to allow public access to George state statutes, a civil rights victory.

  2. Kevin Newsom A 2017 Trump appointee. He has ruled in favor of a high legal threshold in cases of ‘qualified immunity’ for police charged with using excessive force on the job.

  3. Barbara Lagoa - A 2019 Trump appointee. She holds conservative views, but upheld the city of Miami’s firing of a local  firefighter who refused to comply with a city policy regarding an LGBTQIA+ training. 

  4. Robert Luck - A 2019 Trump appointee. He served on the Florida Supreme Court. In 2020, he ruled in favor of a Georgia gun rights group to allow people to carry guns in parks and recreational areas, trumping city restrictions on guns in these public spaces.

  5. Elizabeth L. Branch A 2018 Trump appointee, former Superior Court of Georgia judge, with prior US DHS and the White House OMB experience. She is known for conservative viewpoints, but in 2021, upheld Tallahassee’s right to remove a “Fallen Confederate Soldier” from Brazos Park to a storage facility, rejecting a plaintiff’s challenge.

  6. Britt Grant A 2018 Trump appointee. Her judicial views have supported religious exemptions for businesses regarding LGBTQIA+ rights.

Washington, DC circuit court of appeals (also known as DC Circuit Court)

  1. Neomi Rao A 2019 Trump pick, she replaced Brett Kavanaugh when he joined the Supreme Court. Rao clerked for Clarence Thomas and worked as counsel for nominations and constitutional law for the US Senate committee on the judiciary, and served in Trump’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. Rao has ruled to limit the EPA’s federal authority in enforcing the Clean Water Act, favoring state’s rights.

State Supreme Courts:

TEXAS:

  1. Jane Bland A 2019 GOP Governor Abbott appointee;  previously a Texas First Court of Appeals judge.

  2. Evan Young A 2021 GOP Governor Abbott appointee; prior work in the Texas Attorney General's office and private practice.

Texas Lower Courts: 

In Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, the lower court justices involved were:

  1. Carlton W. Reeves He was the U.S. District Court judge for the Southern District of Mississippi who issued a ruling blocking the enforcement of the Mississippi law.

  2. Judges of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit The case was then appealed to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, which upheld the lower court's decision to block the law before it was taken up by the Supreme Court.

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals panel judges included: Patrick E. Higginbotham, Jennifer Walker Elrod and Jerry E. Smith; Smith was a member of the Trump Presidential Prayer Team.

OTHER STATE DISTRICT COURTS

US District Court for the Northern District of Texas 

  1. Matthew Joseph Kacsmaryk A lawyer and 2017 Trump appointee who was sworn into office in 2019. Made global headlines in 2023 when he issued a temporary ruling suspending approval of the abortion medication Mifepristone (FDA approved in 2000) before his injunction was unanimously lifted by the US Supreme Court on June 13, 2024, restoring access to mifepristone under current FDA rules. Kacsymaryk has emerged as the go-to judge of choice for conservatives based on his rulings. Kacsmaryk previously worked for the arch-conservative Christian legal organization First Liberty (2014-2019), as a Texas federal prosecutor (2008-13), and at the private firm Baker Botts (2003 to 2008).

  1. Reed Charles O'Connor was nominated by President George W. Bush in 2007 and is also a go-to favorite for conservative lawyers and Texas Attorneys General based on his rulings. Reed has repeatedly struck down cases on the Affordable Care Act; his rulings are then reviewed by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, among the most conservative in the US.

MISSISSIPPI SUPREME COURT

  1. (Chief Justice) Mike Randolph Appointed to the court in 2004; he took office in 2019 under Trump. He is known for his conservative judicial philosophy and has often ruled in line with traditional values.

  2. David M. Ishee Elected in 2016; he is an associate justice on the court and takes a conservative approach to issues such as criminal justice and constitutional law.

US District Court for the District of Columbia 

This separate federal district court in Washington, D.C. has nationwide jurisdiction and does not cover specific states, focusing on patent law and other specialized areas. Along with the United States District Court for the District of Hawaii, and the High Court of American Samoa, it also sometimes handles federal issues in the territory of American Samoa.

  1. Justin Walker A 2020 Trump appointee and former clerk for SCOTUS justice Brett Kavanaugh and Anthony Kennedy.  He ruled against Covid-19 vaccine mandates in two cases: one exempted federal contractors from the Biden Covid vaccine mandate; another ruled that OSHA lacked authority to enforce the mandate on large employers. Walker has also expressed past opinions against same-sex marriage.

US District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri

  1. Sarah Pitlyk A 2019 Trump appointee. In Illinois v. Harkins (2021), she joined a ruling that upheld Illinois' Parental Notice of Abortion Act, requiring a parent or guardian be notified before a minor can obtain an abortion.

US District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma

  1. Gregory K. Frizell A 2007 Bush appointee. He has generally taken a conservative stance on abortion and LGBTQIA+ cases, and is supportive of religious exemptions in the latter.

Circuit Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania

  1. Martin W. Brann A 202 Trump appointee. He ruled against several lawsuits that sought to overturn the election results in Pennsylvania.

i  Bekiempis, Victoria. “Meet some of Trump’s most conservative judicial picks,” The Guardian, April 30, 2020.

ii  Ford, Matt. “The Most Conservative Jurists in America Have Lost the Supreme Court,” The New Republic, March 21, 2024.