Caleb Stegall

Caleb Stegall is an attorney and writer residing in Perry, Kansas. He has served as the District attorney for Jefferson County, Kansas and is currently Chief Counsel to Kansas Governor Sam Brownback.^[1][2] He is a proponent of Traditionalist Conservatism.

Background

Born in Topeka, Stegall is a life-long resident of Douglas and Jefferson Counties in northeast Kansas.^[3]

Law Practice

Stegall has handled a number of prominent and controversial political and civil liberty trials in Kansas. At the time of his appointment by Brownback, the Kansas Democratic Party issued a release criticizing Brownback for the appointment, and Democratic leaders blasted Stegall.^[4] He currently represents the State of Kansas in litigation with environmentalists over the permitting of coal-fired power plants.^[5] In February 2010, Stegall achieved national recognition for securing the release of eight American missionaries detained in Haiti following the 2010 Haiti earthquake.^[6][7] In 2008 he successfully defended the former executive director of the Kansas Republican Party in a free speech dispute over campaign finance rules in a case that resulted in significant change to Kansas law.^[8] In 2007 he was the lead counsel in the controversial Kansas Supreme Court trial of former Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline.^{[9][10][11][12]} Stegall has also sued the State on behalf of taxpayers to prevent public financing of casino operations in Kansas City, Kansas;^[13] has defended the civil liberties of taxpayers and property owners as a legal fellow for Americans for Prosperity; has acted on behalf of religious liberties against government encroachment;^[14] and has advocated on behalf of free speech in public schools.^[15] As District Attorney, Stegall has indicted office holders of his own party in a theft and corruption scandal^[16] and has shut down the world's largest distribution ring of exotic hallucinogenic botanicals.^[17]

Politics

Stegall has been identified as an advocate for traditionalist conservatism and a prairie populist.^[18] In 2004 he was profiled on the front page of the New York Times^[19] as one of a young generation of conservatives questioning GOP orthodoxy. On January 12, 2009, Stegall began his first term as Jefferson County District Attorney. He has been characterized by the popular and politically left publication Firedoglake as a "rising political star" of the right,^[20] has been suggested as a possible candidate for U.S. Senate,^[21] and has been described as representing a new path for the GOP in the post-Bush years.^[22]

Writings

In 2003, Stegall created and founded, with others, an online journal of religion, politics, and culture called The New Pantagruel. The New Pantagruel quickly achieved national prominence and received widespread critical acclaim. In 2006, Stegall and The New Pantagruel were featured in Rod Dreher'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, Christianity Today, The Intercollegiate Review, The American Conservative, Taki's Magazine, Touchstone Magazine, and The University Bookman. Stegall authors a semi-regular column on Kansas politics for the independent publication Kansas Liberty.^[23]

Stegall has authored chapters in several books, including the chapter on "Community" in the popular volume American Conservatism: An Encyclopedia. He is currently at work on a book provisionally titled Kansas First! on the history of prairie populism and regionalism in American politics, due out from ISI Books in 2010.

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