Kyle Duncan (judge)

Stuart Kyle Duncan (born 1972) is a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.

From 2008 to 2012, Duncan served as appellate chief for Louisiana's Attorney General's office.

Some media have incorrectly stated that Duncan served as Solicitor General of Louisiana during his time at the Attorney General's office, but the title of Solicitor General did not yet exist during the time that Duncan worked there.

From 2012 to 2014, Duncan served as general counsel of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, where he managed Becket's nationwide public-interest litigation.

He has been a member of the Federalist Society since 2012.

Duncan spent four years as an assistant professor of law at the University of Mississippi Law School.

He also spent two years as an associate-in-law at Columbia University Law School, three years as an Assistant Solicitor General in the Office of the Solicitor General in the Texas Attorney General's Office, and one year in the appellate practice group at Vinson & Elkins LLP.

Duncan argued two cases before the Supreme Court of the United States, and has acted as lead counsel in numerous other cases in that Court, including Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc., 134 S.Ct.

2751 (2014), in which he successfully led litigation challenging the Affordable Care Act's contraceptive mandate on behalf of Hobby Lobby stores.

In 2015, Duncan argued before the Supreme Court against the constitutionality of same-sex marriage.

In 2021, The Washington Blade characterized him as leading efforts to defend state bans on same-sex marriage.

When the Supreme Court ruled in Obergefell v. Hodges, Duncan described the decision as an "abject failure" that "imperils civic peace", and he asserted that the decision "raises a question about the legitimacy of the court."

Duncan represented the birth mother of three children who refused to give her former same-sex spouse visitation rights to the children.

He represented the school board in G.G. v. Gloucester County School Board in a suit brought by a transgender student, Gavin Grimm, over bathroom access.

He also defended in courts North Carolina's bathroom bill that prohibited transgender students from using the bathroom that corresponded to their gender identity.

While he was a judge on the Fifth Circuit, Duncan refused to identify a transgender defendant by their assumed name and preferred gender pronouns.

Duncan noted, "Congress has said nothing to prohibit courts from referring to litigants according to their biological sex, rather than according to their subjective gender identity".

On March 9, 2023, Duncan arrived to Stanford Law School in order to participate in a discussion on "Guns, Covid and Twitter," having been invited by the university's Federalist Society chapter.

The event became a cause célèbre, and was marked by protests led by the student coalition Identity and Rights Affirmers for Trans Equality (IRATE) after a request for his speech to be canceled was denied.

According to The Stanford Daily, "Throughout Duncan’s speech, student protesters booed and made various loud comments, frequently drowning out his voice. In fliers put up in advance of the event, protesters called Duncan a right-wing advocate for laws that would harm women, immigrants and LGBTQ+ people."

After ten minutes of protests had occurred, Duncan, according to David Lat writing in the Original Jurisdiction, “became angry, departed from his prepared remarks, and laced into the hecklers.” On March 11, Stanford president Marc Tessier-Lavigne and Stanford Law dean Jennifer Martínez issued a letter of apology to Duncan, writing that students may "exercise their right to protest but not to disrupt the proceedings.”

Duncan wrote for the court in In re Larry Swearingen, No. 19-20565, denying the fourth habeas corpus petition and a delay of execution for Larry Swearingen, who was convicted of the 1998 murder of Melissa Trotter.

While Swearingen maintained his innocence, Duncan stated that the latest petition did not meet the requirements for a federal habeas corpus petition.

He was appointed to the court by President Donald Trump in 2017 and confirmed in 2018.

Duncan received a Bachelor of Arts, summa cum laude, from Louisiana State University and a Juris Doctor from the Paul M. Hebert Law Center, where he was inducted into the Order of the Coif and served as executive senior editor of the Louisiana Law Review.

Duncan subsequently earned a Master of Laws from Columbia Law School.

After graduating from law school, Duncan clerked for Louisiana-based Circuit Judge John M. Duhé Jr. of the Fifth Circuit.

On September 28, 2017, President Donald Trump announced his intent to nominate Duncan to an undetermined seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.

On October 2, 2017, he was officially nominated to the seat vacated by Judge W. Eugene Davis, who assumed senior status on December 31, 2016.

On November 29, 2017, a hearing was held on his nomination before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Louisiana senator John Kennedy initially withheld his support for Kyle Duncan to serve as a federal appeals court judge, but ended up announcing he would support Duncan and praised his performance after his confirmation hearing.

On January 3, 2018, his nomination was returned to the President under Rule XXXI, Paragraph 6 of the United States Senate.

On January 5, 2018, President Donald Trump announced his intent to renominate Duncan to a federal judgeship.

On January 8, 2018, his renomination was sent to the Senate.

On January 18, 2018, his nomination was reported out of committee by an 11–10 vote.

Duncan's nomination was opposed by Democrats and supported by Republicans.

On April 23, 2018, the Senate invoked cloture on Duncan's nomination by a 50–44 vote.

On April 24, 2018, his nomination was confirmed by a 50–47 vote.

He received his judicial commission on May 1, 2018.

Duncan often worked against LGBT groups in private practice, which led many advocacy groups to oppose his nomination for judgeship.