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 Supreme Court?
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I love the law. And like many people, I am embarrassed by the constant articles and editorials that have been questioning the impartiality and integrity of the court. Corruption, favoritism, and political gamesmanship are the words that define our court – and my background is best suited to stop it.
With more than 20 years of legal experience and seminary training, my career is dedicated to integrity, honesty and the highest ethical standards.
My law degree gives me the tools to deal with the technical issues that come before the court, and my courtroom experience brings practical understanding of what real people go through. If elected, I would be the only justice who has tried both civil and criminal jury trials; represented injured workers and employers in workers’ compensation claims; handled divorces, child custody, child support cases, property line disputes and all manner of appeals. No current justice has this level of real legal practice, trial experience.
My seminary degree gives me the tools to uphold the values we espouse as a state, and my ministry in the church helps bring a practical understanding of people. If elected, I would be the only justice to hold a Masters in Divinity and to have been a minister that led a church.
My life experience is built on restoring lives. My voice is founded on a plain, practical approach, and my energy will be focused on restoring integrity to the Alabama Supreme Court. |
| 2. What do you consider to be the three most important attributes of a judge? |
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Integrity, Honesty, and Respect for those who come before the court. |
| 3. What is your judicial philosophy? |
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Too many judges are quick to say that they are strict constructionists, judicial activists or refuse to answer. These are not philosophies. They are political labels that are used to manipulate public opinion.
I want to be clear; political motivations have no place in the Alabama Supreme Court. The current clouds of corruption that surround our court have been created because of special interests that want judges with philosophies that protect them instead of philosophies that treat everyone equal under the law. They have undermined any sense of judicial independence and fairness.
My philosophy is simple, it is “to do justice, love kindness and walk humbly with the Lord, my God.” |
| 4. How do you define “judicial independence,” and how important is it to our judicial system? |
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Judicial independence is the cornerstone to the foundation of our judicial system in Alabama. An independent judiciary is the hallmark that people look to so that when one comes before the Court, they believe that they are being treated equally under the law.
I believe in the traditional definition of independence, that it is freedom from control or influence of another or others. It means that a special interest group or a party should not have any effect on the opinion of a justice, either real or imagined. In short, independence means that there cannot be even the appearance of impropriety or political gamesmanship.
When an opinion is handed down from the Court, the officers of the court need to be able to look at any judicial opinion and understand how a justice came to that conclusion using the law. Too many opinions are being handed down where the officers of the court look at the parties, and they quickly figure who won or lost based on each parties’ special interest. The credibility of our Court is being eroded opinion by opinion.
When you knock the cornerstone out of a building, it will just crumble and fall. When you knock the independence out of the judiciary, not only does the institution fall, but so does our democratic society. |
| 5. What is the greatest area of need in the Alabama justice system, and how should the Alabama Supreme Court respond, if at all? |
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Our Supreme Court has developed a shameful perception that “Justice is for Sale.”
Clouds of corruption are overtaking our Court because of the incredible and obscene amounts of money pouring into these races from outside sources. The problem is so big that a long line of State Bar presidents has raised the perception problem as the most pressing legal concern in Alabama. From all standpoints it looks as if out-of-state interests are controlling the court – and that the citizens of Alabama are not equal before the law.
There are judges on the court that have received massive amounts of money from special interest; one judge received $740,000 from one business interest alone. When Exxon and out-of-state drug companies come before the court, the Court has voted repeatedly against the interest of the State of Alabama. News of leaks and impropriety on the Court has gotten so bad, that the Court has initiated an investigation against itself.
How do we get these clouds of corruption to dissipate?
First, we must be open and transparent. Pac-to-Pac transfers of political money need to stop. Second, the Riley Court needs to be voted out of office. We need fresh new faces, such as my own, to be elected to the court. And the 8-1 unbalanced court needs to be brought in to balance ideologically.
Finally, each justice needs to pledge that their top priority will be to erase the clouds of corruption and restore integrity to our Court. |
| 6. What part, if any, should public opinion play in the decision of a judge? |
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The law is a real life drama – not an academic exercise. You must always try to do the right thing based on the law and always keep in mind that people and society change over time.
Historically, as public opinion changes, so does the law. Historically, as society changes, so does the law. These changes are usually gradual.
However, no decision must be rendered solely on public opinion. The law must be respected and a judge has an obligation to uphold the law despite the popularity or lack of popularity of any given situation.
We may not like a particular decision, but we, the citizens, must have confidence in the legal system and the principles that undergird it. |
| 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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As stated earlier about independence, a justice has to be independent of any influences. And sometimes that means his/her own influence. You have to love the law enough to set aside your personal beliefs – society simply crumbles when justices are not capable of doing that. |
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