ConfirmThem

By Feddie Posted in Uncategorized — Comments () / Email this page » / Leave a comment »

Quin Hillyer has a most excellent opinion piece supporting President Bush's renomination of Judge William H. Pryor, Jr. in the WSJ. Here's a taste:

[In Alabama], the Republican Pryor--at age 42, now serving a mere temporary appointment to the 11th Circuit--is the darling not just of right-leaning editorial boards. He enjoys near-universal support even from newspapers that endorsed Al Gore and John Kerry, from elected officials both Democrat and Republican, black and white--and even from the Democrat who Mr. Pryor defeated for attorney general.

. . . .

Why do Alabamians so strongly back Judge Pryor? Because they've seen him in action defending Democratic lawmakers against Republican lawsuits, defying the Republican governor (Fob James) who appointed him, and spending countless hours establishing a youth mentorship program through the attorney general's office. They know him, up close, as a man of integrity and compassion.

. . . .

Judge Pryor would say, correctly, that his jurisprudence aims at helping neither victims nor powerful interests, but merely at following precedent and the Constitution. In his closing arguments against the judicial vigilantism of Alabama's then-Chief Justice Roy Moore, he said: "In our system, a judge must follow the final decision of other judges, even when he is convinced they're wrong. . . . The answer this court must provide to every judge in Alabama is that no judge is above the law."

That's why, against his own personal predilections, he refused, as attorney general, to enforce part of a new state law against partial birth abortions: because that section contradicted clear U.S. Supreme Court precedent. That's why, against his own predilections, he enforced the very portion of the Voting Rights Act that he and his Georgia Democratic counterpart opposed. And that's why the leader of Alabama's top black, Democratic organization endorsed him as a judge who "will uphold the law without fear or favor," while former Democratic AG Bill Baxley said Judge Pryor always acts "without race, gender, age, political power, wealth, community standing, or any other competing interest affecting his judgment."

Yes, we in Alabama proudly support Bill Pryor. His career--as public intellectual, successful prosecutor, cultural-bridge-builder and man of conscience even at his own political peril--represents many of the traits the national media has always said Alabama lacks. Until he came along, our most famous exemplar of such character was the fictional Atticus Finch. Now that we can offer a real-life Atticus, we're more than a little angry that the Washington elites want to reject him.

Wow. Well done, Quin.

This piece ought to be introduced by one of the Republican senators at Pryor's upcoming rehearing before the SJC.

(cross-posted at Southern Appeal)