(via
YouTube)
Fifth
Circuit
judge
James
Ho
is
back
at
it!
And
by
“it”
I
mean
making
headlines
by
espousing
far
right
views
in
a
likely
effort
to
secure
a
spot
on
Donald
Trump’s
Supreme
Court
shortlist.
For
his
latest
issue,
Ho
has
staked
out
a
retrograde
position
on
birthright
citizenship.
Sure,
Ho
has
previously
written
that
it
would
take
a
constitutional
amendment
to
overturn
birthright
citizenship,
but
that
was
way
back
in
2006!
That’s
before
the
Republican
party
took
the
hardest
of
hard
right
turns.
Now
Ho
—
an
immigrant
himself,
mind
you
—
is
happy
to
stand
on
the
necks
of
immigrants
to
curry
favor
with
Donald
Trump!
As
reported
by
Bloomberg
Law,
Ho
did
a
recent
interview
with
a
like-minded
audience
(South
Texas
College
of
Law
professor
Joshua
Blackman)
to
announce
that
he
was
on
board
with
Trump’s
latest
hobby
horse.
Ho
pointed
to
his
writings
on
the
appeals
court,
in
which
he’s
embraced
the
declaration
by
Texas
Gov.
Greg
Abbott
(R)
of
an
“invasion”
on
the
state’s
border
with
Mexico
in
litigation.Ho
said
those
who
have
read
his
writings
on
the
invasion
declaration
and
on
birthright
citizenship
“should
see
a
direct
connection”
between
the
two.“No
one
to
my
knowledge
has
ever
argued
that
the
children
of
invading
aliens
are
entitled
to
birthright
citizenship,”
Ho
said.
“And
I
can’t
imagine
what
the
legal
argument
for
that
would
be.”
This
is
far
from
the
first
time
that
Ho
has
seemed
to
dust
off
his
resume
and
let
Trump
know
just
how
far
he’ll
go
to
stick
it
to
the
libs.
He’s
used
a
dissent
to
criticize
Texas
(of
all
places)
for
being
too
soft
on
immigration;
hijacked
a
concurrence
to
mark
out
a
new
low
for
reproductive
freedom;
went
to
war
with
woke
law
schools;
came
up
with
bizarre
defenses
for
Clarence
Thomas;
invented
new
categories
of
damages
for
anti-Vaxxers; looked
to
the
Bible
to
justify
his
jurisprudence;
and
so
much
more.
Kenneth
Manning,
a
professor
at
the
University
of
Massachusetts
Dartmouth,
confirmed
to
Bloomberg
Law
what
we’ve
all
been
thinking
about
Ho’s
increasingly
far-right
public
statements.
“For
judges
who
are
ambitious,
it’s
a
way
to
put
your
name
on
the
Supreme
Court
shortlist.
I
don’t
think
there
are
many
people
who
doubt
that
Ho’s
maneuvers
here
are
probably
an
attempt
to
do
that.”
At
least
one
person
is
helping
Ho
play
hard
to
get.
I
leave
it
to
you
to
take
that
grain
of
salt.
“Judge
Ho
loves
his
family
and
loathes
D.C.,”
Gibson
Dunn
partner
Brad
Hubbard
said
in
an
email.
Ho’s
chambers
are
in
Dallas.Hubbard
noted
that
Ho’s
wife,
fellow
Gibson
Dunn
partner
Allyson
Ho,
is
an
appellate
lawyer
who
has
argued
two
cases
before
the
Supreme
Court
in
the
past
year.
If
Judge
Ho
were
to
become
a
justice,
it
would
raise
conflicts
issues
for
his
spouse.“I
think
that’s
why
he
feels
free
to
speak
his
mind
now,
just
as
he
has
in
public
writings
and
speeches
for
the
past
30
years,”
Hubbard
said.
Pardon
me
while
I
roll
my
eyes
so
hard.
Listen,
Ho
has
been
*grinding*
out
there,
making
sure
his
name
keeps
on
coming
up
as
“noted
conservative
jurist.”
Post-election
he
told
a
Federalist
Society
panel
“Too
many
academics
regard
the
views
of
half
the
country
as
garbage.”
Then
appeared
on
an episode
of
Advisory
Opinions
to
defend
his
boycott
on
hiring
law
students
that
go
to
schools
where
he
has
an
axe
to
grind.
(And
to
take
a
swipe
at
another
potential
SCOTUS
candidate,
the
Sixth
Circuit’s
Amul
Thapar.
Now,
there
aren’t
any
Supreme
Court
seats
currently
open.
But
the
rumors
have
been
swirling
that
Samuel
Alito
and
Clarence
Thomas
(Ho
clerked
for
latter,
and
there’s
a
recent
trend
of
hiring
SCOTUS
clerks
to
replace
the
justices
they
worked
for)
are
eyeing
retirement.
And
you
*know*
Ho’s
name
will
come
up
if
they
do.
Kathryn
Rubino
is
a
Senior
Editor
at
Above
the
Law,
host
of
The
Jabot
podcast,
and
co-host
of
Thinking
Like
A
Lawyer.
AtL
tipsters
are
the
best,
so
please
connect
with
her.
Feel
free
to
email
her
with
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questions,
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and
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@Kathryn1 or
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@[email protected].