Todd Butler, President Trump's latest nominee to the Fifth Circuit, has a paper trail that may complicate his confirmation. According to a recent Reason article, Butler has published several law review pieces over the past two decades, including a student note and later articles, while also serving as an adjunct professor at the University of Mississippi Law School.
The writings show a consistent skepticism toward Justice Scalia's judicial philosophy. In one article, Butler favors Justice Breyer's dissent in Hudson v. Michigan, arguing that the exclusionary rule is a necessary deterrent and that Scalia's alternatives are insufficient. Another piece characterizes Scalia as a positivist with a "relentless focus on history and tradition," and Butler appears receptive to Justice Brennan's competing view of constitutional interpretation.
Butler is also sharply critical of the Castle Doctrine, which he says fosters a "trigger-happy" mentality and leaves citizens with a "shoot first, ask questions later" attitude. He warns that the Hudson decision, by weakening the knock-and-announce rule, could make violent encounters more likely in states with such laws. The Reason article notes that Butler does not mention the Second Amendment in his student note, and suggests his views may diverge from the conservative legal mainstream that generally supports broad self-defense rights.