How often do you get to see a judicial dogfight between members of the same party? In Alabama, where one sitting justice told a
newspaper editorial board that
"It irritates me that nobody respectable will run against me in the primaries." and says that Roy Moore is "starting to believe his own gibberish"!
In Alabama, Republicans hold every seat on the Supreme Court and this year, there are a few interesting contested primaries for these seats. There's a fight brewing in the party between the traditional business Republicans and the Moore/Taliban faction.
I think it mirrors a coming split in the national party. Hey if it can happen in Alabama, it can happen anywhere!
Bear with me while we review the cast of characters in this amazingly entertaining drama.
Well, one of Moore's proteges, Tom Parker (who is also on the court) is running this year against Chief Justice Drayton Nabers. One of Parker's buddies, Hank Fowler, is challenging Associate Justice Tom Woodall.
And things just keep getting more and more interesting. In yesterday's Decatur Daily, Woodall took the unusual step of publicly unloading on Parker because of Parker's criticisms of court rulings. Here's the story from the AP Wire.
...Woodall criticized Parker for writing a newspaper column that challenged the court's decision in a death penalty case.
"I think I was the only (justice) who actually called Parker to cuss him out, but we all were mad," Woodall told the paper's editorial board during a meeting. "It was cowardly and deceitful, and a whole lot of other words that I guess I won't say here."
Now, Parker was criticizing the court because they followed Federal law when ruling on a death penalty case involving a juvenile.
Parker lambasted his colleagues on the Alabama court for following the ruling and overturning a decision that upheld the death sentence for a juvenile convicted of capital murder.
Woodall went on to discuss his feelings about Roy Moore and the state of "conservatism" today.
"Roy never had much interest in the law. I'd say he has an average legal mind. He's got enough of a legal mind to know that a lot of what he says isn't true," Woodall said. "I sometimes think (Moore) has said it so much he's starting to believe it, but it's all gibberish."
Woodall said the politicking on the high court created a problem when it came to label his own judicial philosophy.
Woodall had campaign brouchures identifying him as a "conservative," but he deleted the reference after being faced with candidates like Parker and Moore who identify themselves as conservatives.
"I had always thought following the law was conservative, but apparently not," Woodall said. "Following the law is moderate, I'm told. So I was going to put 'moderate' on the brochure, but I figured then people would think that meant I was a liberal. So finally I just said my philosophy was one of fairness."
So a sitting justice on the Alabama Supreme Court is pitching a fit because the rest of the court is following the law when making decisions. And this guy is running for chief justice. I have a feeling this little dust up is just a skirmish in the coming battle for the GOP's soul (what's left of it).
Geeezzzz.... this is going to be fun. Get the popcorn!
As the Decatur Daily editorial (link is above) says:
Basically, a bunch of Republicans are beating each other up over a disagreement about the propriety of executing a teenager.
Democrats may not have much voice in Alabama politics. But nothing prevents them from being amused at Republican antics.