Watch out, Justice Samuel Alito! You’ve got real competition when it comes to federal judges whose judicial opinions sound more like unhinged posts from an incel forum than legal writings from a professional adult.

Judge James Ho, a Donald Trump appointee who sits on the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, is quickly building a name for himself as the biggest crybaby troll on the federal bench. In and out of court, the man is so whiny and obsessed with unjustified grievances, that one expects any day now for him to be outed as “ElliotRodgerFan48” on some low-rent message board. Ho is the judge who argued that, because they didn’t take away guns from convicted wife-beaters in the 19th century, the government has no right to do it now. He’s the judge who swore he would never hire a Yale graduate because Yale students, using their right to free speech, protested a leader of a hate group. He sneeringly argued that pregnancy cannot ever be a serious medical condition, questioning, “When we celebrated Mother’s Day, were we celebrating illness?” He was sworn in by Justice Clarence Thomas at the home of billionaire Harlan Crow, but Ho routinely paints himself as the victim of “elites” like, uh, college students and everyday women who need abortion access.

As James LaRock at Balls and Strikes writes, “Ho often confuses being a federal judge with being a speechwriter for a right-wing shock jock’s presidential campaign.” But even by the sub-Steven Crowder standards of Ho’s cringeworthy career, he bests himself his opinion in a recent case on whether the courts can unilaterally throw out FDA approval of mifepristone, which is part of a two-pill regimen to terminate early term pregnancies.

  • Nougat
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    2110 months ago

    You know, at first I was like, “Ehh this highly editorialized writing is a bit much,” but then I read:

    “Unborn babies are a source of profound joy for those who view them,” he wrote in his Wednesday opinion. “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.”

    Every bit of snark in this article is fully warranted.

    • Arotrios
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      810 months ago

      I came here to post this - have an upvote.

      But I have to ask - I experience an aesthetic injury every time I see a MAGA hat. Does this mean I have a case?

    • This is so fucked up. And how does he even “know” this? How many “injured doctors” has he spoken to?

      I’m a woman, I have had several OBGYN’s, men and women. I’ve asked many about their stance on abortion because I live in a southern state, and this is of particular concern to me. They have all answered with professional and medical responses.

      Never has this weird shit come up.

      • Nougat
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        810 months ago

        I have to think that OBGYNs have to always be prepared to be faced with tragedy. So many preganancies end badly, most often for no reason whatsoever. In that kind of circumstance, I cannot imagine being able to tell a woman that no, this will not end with your having a happy, healthy baby, and you’re not going to be allowed to make your choice about what happens, or start the healing process. Just wait for your body to reject the fetus, and hope you don’t go septic.

        It’s fucking barbarous.