The Supreme Court is hearing arguments today on whether to reverse the FDA’s approval, over two decades ago, of the drug mifepristone, which is used in medication abortions. It’s an insane case that should have been laughed out of court for many reasons, but it’s 2024 and a mad AI is running what appears to be reality now.
As it happens, one of the three appellate judges who heard the case on its way to the Supremes, Trump appointee Judge James Ho, isn’t only a rightwing ideologue chosen by the Federalist Society. As the Guardian reports, his wife Allyson, also a top legal eagle on the Right, is just the teensiest bit connected to the Alliance Defending Freedom, the anti-abortion legal group that’s representing the plaintiffs in the case. The group “made at least six payments from 2018 through 2022” to Allyson Ho, who has argued before the Supremes herself and has her own deep ties to the rightwing legal movement that’s been reshaping US courts for decades and laid the groundwork for overturning Roe v. Wade — for starters.
The Guardian dutifully notes that
The payments don’t violate the court’s code of conduct, according to Stephen Gillers, a New York University emeritus professor of law and author of Regulation of Lawyers: Problems of Law and Ethics. [Wonkette commission link if anyone’s buying a $138 legal textbook]
So technically legal (the best kind of legal) — just as there’s nothing illegal in James Ho being sworn in as a judge on the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals at the home of Harlan Crow, the Texas billionaire GOP donor who collects Nazi memorabilia and Supreme Court justices. But kind of hinky-looking.
When the case that the Supremes are hearing today was heard by the Fifth Circuit last year, the three-judge panel allowed mifepristone to remain on the market but only under pre-2016 FDA rules.
Ho partially joined the decision, but he partially dissented, saying he’d have upheld Texas federal Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk’s original decision in full, finding the drug’s 2000 approval illegal for all time. This is because Ho is a rightwing dipshit.
He also wrote a bizarre explanation of why the antiabortion doctors would suffer a “conscience injury,” and what’s more, an “aesthetic injury,” if mifepristone remained on the market, because fetuses spark joy:
Unborn babies are a source of profound joy for those who view them. Expectant parents eagerly share ultrasound photos with loved ones. Friends and family cheer at the sight of an unborn child. Doctors delight in working with their unborn patients—and experience an aesthetic injury when they are aborted.
Like, that’s just your dissenting opinion, man.
Now, you might think that a federal judge would’ve wanted to avoid even the appearance of impropriety if his spouse had done legal work for the firm arguing a case before him. But nah, everything is fine, as Ho explained this week in an email to the Guardian:
James Ho wrote that he “consulted our court’s ethics advisor prior to sitting in that case, and was advised that there was no basis for recusal. In any event, my wife’s practice is to donate honoraria to charity.”
We like that bit about how she donates “honoraria” to charity. That would mean like speaking fees or other work that’s done on a sorta-volunteer basis, although we should note that the judge doesn’t explicitly say those were the type of payment his wife received from the Alliance Defending Freedom. He might just as well have followed the line about the ethics advisor with, “In any event, my wife volunteers at a charity that rescues puppies and kittens with the biggest saddest eyes.”
The Guardian says it’s “unclear what Alliance Defending Freedom paid Allyson Ho to do,” adding that
ending abortion is central among the organization’s goals. The group helped write the Mississippi law that led to the Dobbs decision that overturned Roe v Wade and ended the 50-year-old constitutional right to an abortion.
That unspecified legal work isn’t the power couple’s only connection to the ADF either:
Her husband’s financial disclosures list descriptions of “Academy” or “Freedom Summit”, next to some of the payments. The ADF hosts various legal trainings as part of its ADF Legal Academy that “seamlessly combines outstanding legal training with an unwavering commitment to Christian principles” and a Young Lawyers Academy.
The Alliance Defending Freedom said: “ADF often invites lawyers of various backgrounds and experiences to speak at events. ADF offers honorariums for speaker participation. Allyson Ho is an exceptional lawyer with vast and diverse legal experience.”
Golly, not that we’d ever stoop to cynicism or anything, but did you notice that the ADF statement also doesn’t directly state that she was only paid honoraria for speaking? ADF has speakers. They are paid honoraria. Allyson Ho is a great lawyer. If you dopes who read this paragraph want to think that’s an explanation of our payments to her, that’s on you.
Oh, but is it corrupt, exactly? Heck nah, according to the ethics rules. Besides, as with Clarence Thomas and his very generous friends, Ho would have written his bizarre dissent last year regardless of whether his wife was getting paid or not, and bribery is perfectly legal now. Why would anyone have a problem with any of it?
[Guardian / Ms / Can We Still Govern?]
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