Caleb Stegall (born September 20, 1971) is an American attorney and writer who resides in

Perry, Kansas Perry is a city in Jefferson County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 852. History Perry had its start in the year 1865 by the building of the railroad through that territory. It was named for John ...

. He has served as the

district attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or state attorney is the chief prosecutor and/or chief law enforcement officer representing a U.S. state in a l ...

for

Jefferson County, Kansas Jefferson County (county code JF) is a county located in the U.S. state of Kansas. At the 2020 census, the county population was 18,368. Its county seat is Oskaloosa, and its most populous city is Valley Falls. History Early history For ma ...

, and Chief Counsel to Kansas Governor

Sam Brownback Samuel Dale Brownback (born September 12, 1956) is an American attorney, politician, diplomat, and member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party who served as the United States Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Fr ...

before he was appointed to the

Kansas Court of Appeals The Kansas Court of Appeals is the intermediate-level appellate court for the U.S. state of Kansas. History The Kansas Legislature created the first Kansas Court of Appeals in 1895, to help the Kansas Supreme Court with an increasingly heavy casel ...

. On August 29, 2014, Stegall was appointed by

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...

Governor

to the

Kansas Supreme Court The Kansas Supreme Court is the highest judicial authority in the state of Kansas. Composed of seven justices, led by Chief Justice Marla Luckert, the court supervises the legal profession, administers the judicial branch, and serves as the sta ...

, replacing

Nancy Moritz Nancy Louise Moritz (born March 3, 1960) is a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit and former Associate Justice on the Kansas Supreme Court. Biography Moritz (formerly Caplinger) was born in B ...

, who had been appointed by President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

to the

10th Circuit Court of Appeals The United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit (in case citations, 10th Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts: * District of Colorado * District of Kansas * Dist ...

. He is a proponent of

traditionalist conservatism Traditionalist conservatism, often known as classical conservatism, is a political and social philosophy that emphasizes the importance of transcendent moral principles, manifested through certain natural laws to which society should adhere ...

Early life

Born in

Lawrence, Kansas Lawrence is the county seat of Douglas County, Kansas, Douglas County, Kansas, United States, and the sixth-largest city in the state. It is in the northeastern sector of the state, astride Interstate 70, between the Kansas River, Kansas and Waka ...

, Stegall is a lifelong resident of

Douglas Douglas may refer to: People * Douglas (given name) * Douglas (surname) Animals *Douglas (parrot), macaw that starred as the parrot ''Rosalinda'' in Pippi Longstocking *Douglas the camel, a camel in the Confederate Army in the American Civil W ...

and Jefferson Counties, in northeastern

. In Douglas County, Stegall attended and graduated from Lawrence High School in

Law practice

When Brownback was appointed, the

Kansas Democratic Party The Kansas Democratic Party is the affiliate of the Democratic Party in the state of Kansas and one of two major parties in the state, alongside the Republicans. The chair of the party is Vicki Hiatt. The party currently controls the state's gove ...

issued a release criticizing Brownback for the appointment because of his connection to the disbarred attorney

Phill Kline Phillip D. Kline (born December 31, 1959) is a former American attorney who served as a Kansas state legislator, district attorney of Johnson County, and Kansas Attorney General. Kline, a member of the Republican Party, lost re-election as at ...

. He represented the State of Kansas in litigation with environmentalists over the permitting of coal-fired power plants. Stegall represented eight American missionaries detained in Haiti following the

2010 Haiti earthquake A disaster, catastrophic Moment magnitude scale, magnitude 7.0 Mw earthquake struck Haiti at 16:53 local time (21:53 UTC) on Tuesday, 12 January 2010. The epicenter was near the town of Léogâne, Ouest (department), Ouest department, a ...

who were accused by Haitian officials of trying to take children to the Dominican Republic without proper documentation. In 2008, he successfully defended the former executive director of the

Kansas Republican Party The Kansas Republican Party is the state affiliate political party in Kansas of the United States Republican Party. The Kansas Republican Party was organized in May 1859. At the state level, the party is largely split between its moderate and con ...

in a dispute over Kansas campaign finance rules. In 2007, he was the lead counsel in the Kansas Supreme Court trial of former Kansas Attorney General

based on perjury, an illegal file transfer, and misleading legal guidance. In 2008, Stegall represented a group of residents against the public financing of casino operations in

Kansas City, Kansas Kansas City, abbreviated as "KCK", is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas, and the county seat of Wyandotte County. It is an inner suburb of the older and more populous Kansas City, Missouri, after which it is named. As of ...

. In 2008, he represented a church that challenged local regulations on the church's operations as a homeless shelter. In 2009, he represented a teacher who claimed not to have been rehired because of his conservative political beliefs. As district attorney, he filed charges in 2009 against a county commissioner charged with theft by deception. In 2010, he was involved with a federal and state investigation of a distributor of "ethnobotanicals" who was accused of selling a

synthetic cannabis Synthetic cannabinoids are a class of designer drug molecules that bind to the same receptors to which cannabinoids (THC, CBD and many others) in cannabis plants attach. These novel psychoactive substances should not be confused with synthetic ...

. He has worked as general counsel for

Americans for Prosperity Americans for Prosperity (AFP), founded in 2004, is a libertarian conservative political advocacy group in the United States funded by Charles Koch and formerly his brother David. As the Koch brothers' primary political advocacy group, it is one ...

and on the executive committee of Audubon of Kansas.

Politics

Stegall has been identified as an advocate for

and a "prairie populist." In 2004, he was profiled on the front page of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' 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," has been suggested as a possible candidate for US Senate in 2010 by

Rod Dreher Raymond Oliver Dreher Jr. (born February 14, 1967), known as Rod Dreher, is an American writer and editor living in Budapest, Hungary. He is a senior editor and blogger at ''The American Conservative'' and author of several books, including ''H ...

, and has been described as representing a new path for the Republican Party in the post-Bush years. In 2022, Stegall left his adjunct position at the

University of Kansas School of Law The University of Kansas School of Law is the law school of the University of Kansas, a public research university in Lawrence, Kansas. The University of Kansas Law School was founded in 1893, replacing the earlier Department of Law, which had e ...

, citing handling of a controversy over a conservative campus speaker.

Religion

Stegall is a

ruling elder Presbyterian (or presbyteral) polity is a method of church governance ("ecclesiastical polity") typified by the rule of assemblies of presbyters, or elders. Each local church is governed by a body of elected elders usually called the session or ...

in the Evangelical Presbyterian Church. He has been described as a "lifelong conservative Presbyterian" whose faith and life are "strongly countercultural to mainstream

Evangelicalism Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being " born again", in which an individual exper ...

" although he still identifies himself as an evangelical. Stegall and his wife, Ann

homeschool Homeschooling or home schooling, also known as home education or elective home education (EHE), is the education of school-aged children at home or a variety of places other than a school. Usually conducted by a parent, tutor, or an onlin ...

, their children.

Writings

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

'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 ''National Review'' is an American conservative editorial magazine, focusing on news and commentary pieces on political, social, and cultural affairs. The magazine was founded by the author William F. Buckley Jr. in 1955. Its editor-in-chief i ...

'', ''

Christianity Today ''Christianity Today'' is an evangelical Christian media magazine founded in 1956 by Billy Graham. It is published by Christianity Today International based in Carol Stream, Illinois. ''The Washington Post'' calls ''Christianity Today'' "evange ...

'', ''

The Intercollegiate Review The Intercollegiate Studies Institute (ISI) is a nonprofit educational organization that promotes conservative thought on college campuses. It was founded in 1953 by Frank Chodorov with William F. Buckley Jr. as its first president. It sponsors ...

'', ''

The American Conservative ''The American Conservative'' (''TAC'') is a magazine published by the American Ideas Institute which was founded in 2002. Originally published twice a month, it was reduced to monthly publication in August 2009, and since February 2013, it has ...

'', ''

Taki's Magazine ''Taki's Magazine'', called ''Takimag'' for short, is an online magazine of politics and culture published by the Greek paleoconservative commentator and socialite Taki Theodoracopulos and edited by his daughter Mandolyna Theodoracopulos. Initia ...

'', and ''

Touchstone Magazine ''Touchstone'' is a bimonthly conservative ecumenical Christian publication of the Fellowship of St. James. It is subtitled ''A Journal of Mere Christianity'', which replaced ''A Journal of Ecumenical Orthodoxy''. ''Touchstone'' was started in ...

''. Stegall authors a semi-regular column on Kansas politics for the independent publication ''Kansas Liberty''. Stegall has authored chapters in several books, including the chapter on "Community" in the book '' American Conservatism: An Encyclopedia''.

Notes

External links

Official Kansas Courts Biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stegall, Caleb 1971 births Living people American evangelicals American non-fiction writers American Presbyterians District attorneys in Kansas Geneva College alumni Kansas Court of Appeals Judges Kansas Republicans Justices of the Kansas Supreme Court Politicians from Topeka, Kansas University of Kansas School of Law alumni Writers from Topeka, Kansas People from Perry, Kansas 21st-century American judges Conservatism in the United States