Candidate Responses to Voter Guide Questions
Candidates were asked to provide answers to seven fundamental, nonpartisan questions for this voter guide. Candidates were asked not to make comparisons with any other candidate. Candidates were advised that their answers would be limited to 250 words per question. Each candidate's answers are reprinted verbatim here up to that word limit.
1. How have your training, professional experience, and interests prepared you to serve on the Alabama Court of Civil Appeals?
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For 17 years, I was an Assistant Attorney General for an administrative agency of the State of Alabama. The Court of Civil Appeals hears appeals from administrative agency decisions. When I was elected in 2004, I brought to the court those 17 years of experience in administrative law. I am the only judge on the court with such extensive administrative law experience. Most people do not realize that administrative agencies affect so many areas of our lives. While I have been serving on the court, the court has handled several appeals dealing with administrative agencies and their impact on our citizens. Alabama needs an appellate court judge who understands administrative law procedure. I am that judge.
Also, as a husband and a father of two children, I am keenly interested in family law and the impact the court’s decisions have on our judicial system and the families in Alabama. I believe that I am making a difference in appropriately interpreting family law issues in this important and far-reaching area of jurisprudence.
I serve on several committees of the Alabama Supreme Court that assist in fostering the development and implementation of the legal process in Alabama. Also, due to my judicial temperament and experience, I have had the privilege of serving as a Special Sitting Supreme Court Justice in the past. |
| 2. What do you consider to be the three most important attributes of a judge? |
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Integrity, Fairness and Timeliness. The touchstone character trait for any judge is integrity. Integrity is defined as “strict personal honesty and independence.” Integrity includes the ability to independently consider the issues presented in a judicial setting. Integrity also means having the courage to do the right thing, even when it might not be the most popular. I have a track record of strictly interpreting the law. I believe that that is integrity when it comes to being a judge.
Every judge should be fair in dispensing justice. A local lawyer friend of mine once said to me that all he wanted in a judge was someone who would simply call “balls and strikes.” On the ball field, you want an umpire who is disinterested in the teams and just calls “balls and strikes” as he sees them. Comparatively, a judge should be someone who will simply apply the law to whatever the situation is and not favor one side because of his or her background. I try to be fair in deciding all the cases that come before the court.
I am a strong believer that “justice delayed is justice denied.” Consequently, I have never reported a 6-month case. That means that I do not have a backlog of cases. Being timely as a judge ensures that businesses can make sure-footed decisions, that children will know where they will sleep tonight, and families and individuals will know how properties will be settled without excessive delay, among other things. |
| 3. What is your judicial philosophy? |
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My judicial philosophy is simple. It is my job to interpret the law and not make law. It is the legislature’s job to write laws. It is my job to interpret the laws they adopt and to interpret the constitutions of the United States and the State of Alabama when those issues are raised by a party on an appeal. |
| 4. How do you define “judicial independence,” and how important is it to our judicial system? |
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I would define “judicial independence” in relation to the constitutional concept of three separate but equal branches of government. Our founding fathers laid out a plan so that the three branches of government – the legislative, executive, and judicial – would serve as a “checks and balance” approach. It is imperative that the judicial branch operate as an independent branch and not be unduly influenced, nor subsumed, by the other two branches. The judicial branch exists to interpret our laws when necessary and to ensure that those laws adopted by the legislature and implemented by the executive are constitutional. The judicial branch was never intended, nor designed, to be a rubber stamp for either of the other two branches of government. |
| 5. What is the greatest area of need in the Alabama civil justice system, and how should the Alabama Court of Civil Appeals respond, if at all? |
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With the current, poor state of the economy and our budgets getting leaner everyday, the greatest area of need of the Alabama civil justice system involves the shrinking financial resources. The trial courts and the appellate courts are threatened with losing personnel who assist judges in making sure that trials and hearings are held and that appeals are appropriately processed. The Court of Civil Appeals has one of the leanest budgets in all of state government. The Court has tightened its belt over and over. Unfortunately, with continued financial shortfalls, our much needed staff at the Court will be threatened by further budgetary cut-backs. If layoffs become necessary, cases will take longer to process. It is my prayer that we will not get to such a position. |
| 6. What part, if any, should public opinion play in the decision of a judge? |
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In the United States, we have a unique system in which public opinion is taken into account in government. The legislative and executive bodies are the entities charged with public policy issues. The court’s role, and more specifically, the role of a judge, is to interpret the statutes passed by the legislative body and determine if they are constitutional and consistent with other laws and statutes.
For accountability sake, the public should have the right to decide whom they want to serve as a judge. The public can best decide if a particular person is the type individual they want to serve as a judge. This is the time public opinion should become involved in the judicial process—deciding who will be the judge deliberating the important decisions and issuing a judgment. |
| 7. In a case before the Court, how should a judge handle a conflict between his/her personal beliefs and the law? |
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My personal beliefs should take a back seat to what the law is. As stated above, my job is simply to interpret the law. I try to ensure that this is accomplished in every case that comes before the court. I strive not to let personal biases influence my judicial decisions. In some cases, I have had to vote with the law and not my personal beliefs. I do not always agree with the decisions that the court issues, but when the law is being correctly interpreted, I must concur in those decisions. I think that it takes courage to vote that way and I am proud of my overall record on the court. |
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