The all Republican Alabama Supreme Court (the court that brought Judge Roy Moore national attention) will face a serious and worthy challenger. From the
Columbus Ledger Enquirer , Russell County Circuit Court Judge Albert Johnson will be a Democratic candidate for the Alabama Supreme Court in 2006.
Johnson will run in a state dominated by the GOP
with
out fear because he will
define what an Alabama Democrat
is and not allow the opposing party to do that.
"I'm going to get a bumper sticker that says: 'I'm a Christian. I own
a gun. I'm a Democrat.
I have no alternative but to run as a Democrat. I am a Democrat. I am unapologetically a Democrat. " Johnson said.
From the newspaper article:
The 55-year-old former assistant district attorney and state legislator said he doesn't want to be an associate justice simply to be "handing out decisions."
"The Supreme Court defines what the common law is and the constitutionality of legislation," he said. "I'll bring to that bench a broad spectrum of life experiences. I don't think we have that broad of a spectrum being represented on the current Supreme Court."
He said he has seen the court in recent years make decisions that have elevated the interests of the state over the interests of citizens. Except in security issues, the citizens' interests should be paramount or at least equal to the state's in issues such as the taking of property through condemnation, Johnson said.
"I have seen an erosion of the rights of this state's citizens in the last decade," he said. "I truly don't believe the justices think the Supreme Court is doing anything that, in their mind, is wrong. I think it's because we have different life experiences."
"I'm going to remind most of the voters that their granddaddy was a Democrat, and there was nothing wrong with his values," he said.
If enough Democrats make a good showing in the races for five Supreme Court seats next year, it could reopen the debate in Alabama on a proposal to make judicial posts nonpartisan, as they should be, Johnson said.
This is a candidate that Alabama desperately needs. This has provided me with the most hope I have had in sometime for our state.
