The World Around You

We are just a few short days from a primary for state and county offices. I see the yard signs everywhere in our area. Vote for me! Many of these primary races will decide who will serve in the post. Many offices will not be contested in the general election, which means this week is our only chance to make a choice.

A number of the races on the ballot are for statewide and district judicial seats. The discussion of the statewide races in particular has been extensive, and exhausting. What do we really want in a judge? I know what I want. I want someone who can be fair to both sides; who understands the law and is able to follow the precedents that have been established, the constitutions of Alabama and the United States of America in rendering the correct legal rulings. Yet, all I seem to hear from the commercials and coverage of the judicial elections is judicial candidates sparring over which of them is the most godly. Who can determine the depth of a person’s faith? Who would want to? If I have a choice between someone who claims they will make decisions based on their personal faith and one who will follow the law; I’m taking the person who will follow the law every time. Sometimes, I feel like I am in the minority in this.

The reason behind this discussion of faith is obviously Roy Moore. The former Chief Justice is casting a huge shadow over the judicial elections this year. There are many candidates who have ties to him and cite them as key credentials for their candidacy. Some have few credentials beyond these ties. It would be unfortunate if they were to win a prestigious elected office only because of some people’s anger with a decision that was so clearly legally correct.

It has gone so far, that one state Supreme Court justice saw fit to publish a dissertation on his personal disagreement with the law, while at the same time justifying the decision that he helped make based on that law. He should not have to make this justification. He and the other justices did their jobs well! Judge Myron Thompson and the justices of the Alabama Supreme Court made the right decisions. How do we know? Because Roy Moore couldn’t get four justices on the US Supreme Court (including such stalwart strict constructionists as Justices Scalia, Kennedy, Thomas and Rehnquist) to agree to even hear his arguments.

So, when you go to the ballot box on June 1st and vote on the judicial races, think about what you really want from a judge. When you walk into a courtroom, do you expect the judge to decide your case based on whether your attorney makes the argument that comes closest to his personal beliefs or based on the established rule of law? I’m ashamed for all of us that I even have to pose the question. We will live under the system that we have established or we will pay the consequences for destroying it.