Joseph Fischer
Non-Partisan | Kentucky
Candidate Profile*
Originalist (Conditional)
*Additional information appears below for educational purposes; however, only data received prior to the candidate deadline was considered during Panel Evaluation.
BIOGRAPHY
Name
Joseph Fischer
Party
Non-Partisan
Election Year
2022
Election
General
Race
Supreme Court, 6th District
Incumbent
No
Links
EDUCATION
University of Cincinnati College of Law, Cincinnat, OH, Law, 1980
Holy Cross College, Worcester, MA, B.A. Economics, 1976
WORK & MILITARY
(Candidate did not provide)
AFFILIATIONS
KY Right to Life, Member, NKY Right to Life
Member, St. Catherine of Siena Church, Member and Lector
POLITICAL OFFICES HELD
KY State Representative, 24
Ft. Thomas City Council, 11
POLITICAL OFFICES SOUGHT
Justice, Kentucky Supreme Court, Currently
Race
Previous Races
SCORECARDS
CONSERVATIVE ORGANIZATIONS
2021-2022
100%
2021-2022
92%
2015
88%, 89% (cum.)†
2021
81%, 85% (cum.)†
2021-2022
|100%
2021-2022
|92%
2015
|88%, 89% (cum.)†
2021
|81%, 85% (cum.)†
LIBERAL ORGANIZATIONS
ENDORSEMENTS*
*These endorsements were received after the deadline and were not considered in the Panel Evaluations and are for additional educational purposes only.
CONSERVATIVE (7)
Kentucky Right to Life Association (KRLA)
*Freedoms Heritage Forum
*Northern Kentucky Right to Life PAC
*Commonwealth Policy Center
Stand For Health Freedom
REPORTED BY CANDIDATE (1)
KY Judicial candidates may not seek partisan endorsements. Independent Individual endorsements will be forthcoming
SELECTED CONTRIBUTIONS
CONSERVATIVE
GIVEN BY CANDIDATE (8)
Addia Wuchner (2013)
Allison Ball (2019)
Andrew English (2019)
James Comer Jr. (2015)
Matt Bevin (2019)
RECEIVED BY CANDIDATE (10)
Addia Wuchner (2006)
Bluegrass Committee (2018)
Citizens for Affordable Healthcare (2006)
Diane St. Onge (2014)
Family First PAC (2006)
LIBERAL
GIVEN BY CANDIDATE (0)
RECEIVED BY CANDIDATE (1)
Kentucky Justice Association (2017)
OTHER INFORMATION
Joseph Fischer has served as a member of the Kentucky House of Representatives since 1999, representing District 68.
Info from Other Sources:
- According to the Northern Kentucky Report, Fischer said, "After spending over two decades in the legislature advocating for common-sense conservative values, I have decided to seek election to Kentucky’s highest court. My career as an attorney and experience as a member of the House Judiciary Committee for so many years has provided me with a unique perspective regarding the needs of Kentucky’s courts. If elected, I will continue defending the rule of law and will support measures to ensure our judicial system effectively serves all citizens of our Commonwealth.”
- US News reported that Fischer was staunchly pro-life as a member of the Kentucky House of Representatives.
- 89.3 WFPL reported that Fischer sponsored a bill to ban the teaching of Critical Race Theory and other topics in public schools
- After the U.S. Supreme Court voted to allow Kentucky's Attorney General to intervene in a case over a KY law restricting abortion, Fischer thanked the Supreme Court "for upholding our sovereign right to defend our duly enacted laws whenever the constitutionality of Kentucky laws are challenged in federal court." He also said that Kentuckians are blessed to have an Attorney General who is "not only willing to protect the inalienable right to life but also to defend the federal structure upon which our Constitution is based." Fischer went on to say that the Supreme Court's ruling protected Kentucky's right to defend additional rights not protected by the baseline that the federal constitution provides. (Fischer's comments begin at 8:28)
Judge Voter Guide gave 5 Stars and endorsed.
QUESTIONNAIRE
VALUES
I agree with Critical Race Theory (CRT) which asserts that the institutions in the United States are fundamentally racist.
Strongly Disagree
I was the Primary Sponsor of an Anti-CRT bill in 2022 General Assembly session
Judeo-Christian values established a framework of morality that is necessary for our system of limited government.
Strongly Disagree
Briefly describe your spiritual beliefs and values.
I am a Christian and member of the Catholic Church. I profess the beliefs contained in the Nicene Creed.
What types of pro bono work have you done?
I assist people with legal matters on an informal and pro bono basis. These include matters ranging from constitutional issues to probate cases. We also give time, talent and treasure to pro-life groups and crisis pregnancy centers
ABOUT YOU
Have you ever been convicted of a felony or been penalized in either civil or criminal court for sexual misconduct? If so, please explain.
No
What education or experience qualifies you to hold the office for which you seek election?
I have served in the Kentucky General Assembly for 24 years. I have chaired the House Judiciary Committee and the Budget Committee governing Judicial affairs. I have successfully litigated constitutional cases before the KY Supreme Court.
Why should the voters choose you?
Because I am a constitutional conservative committed to upholding the text of the Constitution and the rule of law
I voted in these primaries and general elections:
2012 Republican Primary 2012 General Election 2014 Republican Primary 2014 General Election 2016 Republican Primary 2016 General Election 2018 Republican Primary 2018 General Election 2020 Republican Primary 2020 General Election
JUDICIAL PHILOSOPHY
Justices should not interpret the federal and state constitutions as living documents, but should use a textualist and originalist approach to interpretation.
Strongly Agree
As Justice Scalia once said, "the Constitution says some things and doesn't say other things."
What is the proper use of legislative history in interpreting statutory law?
The text of the statute should remain the basis for the interpretation of the statute in question.
Which current or past U.S. Supreme Court justice best reflects your judicial philosophy?
Antonin Scalia
How should a court address the balance between public health and individual freedoms in the time of a pandemic?
When public health orders violate constitutional liberties, courts must enforce the constitutional rights.
In light of the case Bostock v. Clayton County, in which the U.S. Supreme Court interpreted the 1964 Civil Rights Act to include a prohibition on sexual-orientation discrimination, which justice’s opinion most closely aligns with your own opinion?
I concur with Justice Alito's dissenting opinion.
What role (if any) does a judge have in maintaining the separation of church and state?
The proper role of any judge, on this issue or any other, is to read, interpret and apply the text of the Constitution, including the First Amendment which prohibits Congress from making any law respecting the establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof to the facts of each particular case.
Religious liberty is at risk in the United States and deserves the highest level of protection in the law.
Strongly Agree
For example, in Kentucky, the Governor tried to close the churches on Easter Sunday.
When should a judge overturn past court decisions?
When the prior case was wrongly decided.
How should a judge determine which rights are protected by the Constitution even though they are not specifically mentioned?
The Ninth Amendment states, "The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people." Therefore, the judge must look at the historical record to determine what other rights belonged to the people at the time the Ninth Amendment was adopted. Additional rights may also be found in the text of the various state constitutions.
What legal principles should a court consider when evaluating parents’ objection to their child obtaining medical procedures or drugs designed to affirm the child’s desired gender?
I will respectfully decline to answer this question lest I be faced with a recusal motion regarding this issue as a member of the Court.
What principles should guide a court’s analysis of whether your state’s constitution gives terminally ill patients a right to assisted suicide?
Constitutional analysis always begins with the text of the Constitution, specifically whether the text mentions such a purported right.
Would you describe your judicial philosophy as originalist, living constitutionalist, or something else?
I would describe my judicial philosophy as textualist/originalist/constitutional conservative. J. Scalia's method of interpretation sums it up best, The words of a law, he insisted, “mean what they conveyed to reasonable people at the time.”
