I have over forty years of real world experience as a lawyer, businessman & judge.  Following my graduation from Yale School of Law, I served as a law clerk at the United States Supreme Court.  I tried cases as a lawyer at a Birmingham firm, where I practiced law for 12 years.  I have cast thousands of votes in cases involving virtually every area of law as Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court.  And my decades of experience in the senior management of one of Alabama’s largest companies has uniquely equipped me for the challenge of serving as the chief administrator of the entire Alabama judicial system.   Serving as the judicial system’s chief administrator is a big, big job, as the Chief Justice is responsible for the management of approximately 2,000 employees and a budget over $160 million.  I believe that it is critically important for the Chief Justice to have meaningful administrative experience in order to ensure a high quality, efficient judicial system for all Alabamians.

First, integrity.  Second, wisdom.  And third, a solid understanding of the law.

I am a judicial conservative.  I have done, and will continue to do, my best to decide each case that comes before our Court fairly and impartially – regardless of the parties involved - with faithful commitment to the fundamental principle that in a democratic republic judges are to interpret and apply the law, not make it.

Judicial independence needs to be understood in relation to the separation of powers.  An independent judiciary is a judiciary that remains independent of influence from the executive and legislative branches of government.  This is the essential foundation of the rule of law.

The most important need of any organization, including the Alabama justice system, is to continuously improve quality.  This is done in a number of ways, but a very important factor is the Alabama Judicial College, which had been discontinued before I became Chief Justice, and which I have reestablished and enhanced.  

Upon my appointment as Chief Justice in 2004, our courts were facing a significant financial and administrative crisis, as budget shortfalls had triggered large layoffs of court staff.  The result:  a tremendous backlog of cases in courts throughout the state, as the remaining court system employees, despite their tireless efforts, simply could not keep pace with the demands of dockets and filings.

Since 2004, however, we have formulated and begun to implement a number of new initiatives – including E-Filing, E-Appellate, E-Citation, the Traffic Call Center, and AlaPay – that are improving the quality and efficiency of justice in Alabama, even at the reduced manpower levels that our courts are currently facing.  In fact, our E-Filing program has established Alabama as a national leader in the use of technology, making our courts among the most efficient in the nation.  To learn more about the positive impact of these and other initiatives, I invite you to review the 2005 Chief Justice’s Report, which can be found on the Internet at www.draytonnabers.com/Nabers_Report.pdf.  

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In order to maintain the strength and integrity of the rule of law, personal beliefs (other than a deeply held religious belief) must always be subordinate to the application of the law.  In matters involving a conflict between the law and a judge’s deeply held religious beliefs, however, I believe a slightly different analysis should be employed.  A judge’s role is to strictly interpret the law, not to disregard existing law or create new law because of their religious beliefs.  However, a judge may be confronted with a situation placing his/her religious beliefs in conflict with the law.  In the event that the judge cannot reconcile a conflict between his or her religious beliefs and what the law dictates, that judge should either recuse himself/herself from the proceedings or resign their office.