Supreme Court of Alabama

Supreme Court of Alabama
Seal
Established	1819
Country	Alabama , United States
Location	Alabama Judicial Building, Montgomery, Alabama
Coordinates	32°22′36″N 86°18′16″W / 32.376804°N 86.304318°W / 32.376804; -86.304318Coordinates: 32°22′36″N 86°18′16″W / 32.376804°N 86.304318°W / 32.376804; -86.304318
Authorized by	Alabama Constitution
Decisions are appealed to	Supreme Court of the United States
Website	Official website
Chief Justice
Currently	Roy Moore

The Supreme Court of Alabama is the highest court in the state of Alabama. The court consists of an elected Chief Justice and eight elected Associate Justices. Each justice is elected in partisan elections for staggered six-year terms. The Supreme Court is housed in the Alabama Judicial Building in Montgomery, Alabama.^[1]

The Governor of Alabama may fill vacancies when they occur for the remainder of unexpired terms. The current partisan line-up for the court is all Republican. There is no specific limitation on the number of terms to which a member may be elected. However, the state constitution under Amendment 328, adopted in 1973, prohibits any member from seeking re-election once they have attained the age of seventy years.

History

The Supreme Court of Alabama was organized under the Governorship of William Wyatt Bibb,^[2] and had its beginnings with the Alabama Constitution of 1819, which stated that until the General Assembly deemed otherwise, the functions of the Supreme Court would be handled by the judges of the Alabama circuit courts. The circuit judges were elected by a joint vote of both houses of the Alabama Legislature. These judges met in May 1820 in the capital city of Cahaba for the first term of the Supreme Court. Clement Comer Clay was appointed by the other judges as the first Chief Justice of the court. Following his resignation in 1823, he was succeeded by Abner Smith Lipscomb.^[3]

The court was then reorganized in 1832. It then became a separate court with three justices elected to six-year terms. Abner Lipscomb remained as Chief Justice. In 1851 the number of justices was increased to five. In 1853 the membership of the court was reduced to three again.^[3] By this time the court had its own chambers in the newly completed Alabama State Capitol.^[4] No changes to the court occurred during the years of the Civil War.^[3]

The new state constitution of 1868, drafted during the Reconstruction Era, committed the election of the three justices to the people rather than the legislature. The number of justices was increased to four in 1889. 1891 saw the number increased to five. Following the adoption of the 1901 constitution, the 1903 session of the legislature raised the number of justices to seven.^[3] In 1940 the Supreme Court moved from the Capitol Building to 445 Dexter Avenue. The building had been built as a Scottish Rite temple in 1926 but was sold to the state during the financially difficult years of the Great Depression. The state acquired and started a remodel of the building in 1938 for the relocation of the Judicial Department, Attorney General and State Law Library.^[5]

Legislative Act Number 602, 1969 Alabama Acts was passed during Regular Session of 1969. It increased the number of Associate Justices to eight, bringing the number of court justices to the configuration that remains today. Former Justice Janie L. Shores was the first of six women to serve on the court. She was elected to the court in 1974. The first of three African Americans to serve on the court was former Justice Oscar W. Adams, Jr., who in 1980 was initially appointed by then Governor Fob James to serve the remainder of an unexpired term. Justice Adams would become the first African American elected to the court when he was chosen by the voters two years later to serve a full six-year term.^[3] The court moved to the new Alabama Judicial Building at 300 Dexter Avenue in 1994.^[1]

Jurisdiction

The Supreme Court of Alabama has the authority to review decisions by all the lower courts of the state and the authority to determine certain legal matters over which no other court has jurisdiction. It further has the authority to issue any necessary orders to carry out the general superintendence of the Unified Judicial System of Alabama. It has exclusive jurisdiction over all appeals in disputes exceeding $50,000, as well as appeals from the Alabama Public Service Commission.^[6]

The Chief Justice of the Court serves as the administrative head of the Alabama Judicial System. The court makes all rules governing administration, practice, and procedure for all Alabama courts. The exercise of this authority eliminates technicalities which usually cause delays in trial courts and reversals in appellate courts.^[6]

Justices

The current Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Alabama is Roy Moore, whose current term began January 11, 2013. Moore, who previously served as Chief Justice (2001-2003) succeeded Chief Justice Chuck Malone,^[6] who had been appointed by Governor Robert Bentley to the position on August 1, 2011. Chief Justice Malone was defeated for re-nomination in the Republican Primary in the summer of 2012 by Moore. Moore went on to win the general election on November 6, 2012.

The eight current Associate Justices are James Allen Main, Tommy Bryan, Lyn Stuart, Kelli Wise, Mike Bolin, Tom Parker, Glenn Murdock and Greg Shaw.^[6] Eight of the current members of the court initially came to their seats via election, with the exception of Justice James Allen Main who was appointed in January 2011 to a vacancy created by the retirement of Justice Champ Lyons. Then Governor Bob Riley appointed Main during the last days of his administration. Like four other members of the current court, Justice Main had previously served on the Appellate Courts of Alabama. Justice Main was elected to a full six-year term without opposition on November 6, 2012. The Clerk of Court is Julia Jordan Weller.^[6]

See also

• Courts of Alabama
• Alabama Court of Civil Appeals
• Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals

References