Many federal judges toil in relative obscurity for decades, diligently presiding over and settling civil and criminal disputes that come before them.
But after only 11 years on the bench, U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor in Fort Worth has had more than his share of contentious, high-profile cases. He has become a go-to judge for Republicans over certain heated national social issues such as health care and and transgender rights.
Given his previous decisions halting Obama administration policies, few legal observers were surprised when the conservative judge issued a ruling Friday evening that declared the Affordable Care Act unconstitutional because of a recent change in federal tax law.
