Republican Louisiana Sen. John Kennedy stumped one of President Joe Biden’s judicial nominees as he asked her to define basic legal definitions.
Kennedy, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, asked judicial nominee Sara E. Hill to describe the difference between a “stay order” and an “injunction” during a Wednesday hearing. These two terms are basic legal terms taught early on in law schools.
“A stay order would prohibit, um … sorry, an injunction would restrain the parties from taking action … a stay order … I’m not actually sure I can give you that,” Hill replied.
A stay order is taken to stop or suspend a legal proceeding or the actions of a party and is most commonly used to stop litigation from continuing, according to the Legal Information Institute. An injunction is an order requiring a person to either act or cease doing a specific action. (RELATED: ‘We’re Giving Them A Big Ol’ Tax Credit’: John Kennedy Stumps Witness On Why Government Has To Pay People To Drive EVs)
Democratic Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin reportedly congratulated Hill for “passing the Kennedy bar exam” following the Louisiana senator’s questioning, according to Judicial Crisis Network president Carrie Severino.
Kennedy stumped a previous judicial nominee in March with basic questions on the U.S. Constitution, legal procedure and Supreme Court precedents. Judicial nominee S. Kato Crews could not explain how to analyze a Brady motion and confused it with the Supreme Court case Brady v. Maryland with the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act.
The senator also left another nominee speechless after he asked how spending $50 trillion would reduce global temperatures during a May 3 hearing. In September, he grilled Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias over exposing pornographic and sexually explicit books to children in school libraries.