Now that the runoff elections are over, voters are turning their attention to the November General Election only 90 days away.
Associate Justice Tom Parker beat out former chief justice Lyn Stuart in the June 5 primary election with almost 52 percent of the vote. Now he moves to the General Election, facing Democratic nominee Judge Bob Vance.
With that in mind, here are the five things you need to know about Tom Parker:
1. He attended some of most prestigious schools in the country, and traveled to Brazil to study.
Parker attended Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, and received his J.D. from Vanderbilt University school of law in Tennessee. According to his campaign bio, he was also a Rotary International Fellowship recipient and attended the University of Sao Paulo School of Law, in Sao Paulo, Brazil, where he was the first foreign student in Brazil’s most prestigious law school.
2. He’s held numerous positions in different courts across the state
Parker has most recently served as Alabama’s Associate Justice, a position he’s held since 2004; but has also held numerous positions across the state including: Deputy Administrative Director of Courts, General Counsel for the Alabama court system, Director of the Alabama Judicial College, and Legal Adviser to the Chief Justice under Roy Moore.
3. He founded the Alabama Family Alliance, now the Alabama Policy Institute
The Alabama Family Alliance, now the Alabama Policy Institute, was founded by Parker in 1989; he also served as the think tanks first Executive Director. “The Alabama Policy Institute is an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit research and educational organization dedicated to strengthening free enterprise, defending limited government, and championing strong families,” API’s mission statement reads.
4. He served as an Assistant Attorney General under Jeff Sessions and Bill Pryor.
According to his bio on the Alabama Judicial System’s website, Parker served as an assistant Attorney General under both Jeff Sessions and Bill Pryor. “As an Assistant Attorney General, he handled death penalty cases, criminal appeals, and constitutional litigation,” the bio reads. “He has extensive experience in writing appellate briefs and with oral arguments before the Supreme Court and the Court of Criminal Appeals.”
5. He is a longtime friend and ally of former Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore
Parker served under Moore as a Legal Adviser, and has been described by some as “Moore- light.”
“He hasn’t been directly involved in Parker’s campaign. But neither has Parker sought to put any distance between him and Moore,” the Associated Press reported. “Parker contends Moore was wrongfully suspended in 2016, after an ethics panel ruled he was urging probate judges to defy the Supreme Court’s legalization of same-sex marriage. He says Moore was treated unfairly because of his Ten Commandments fight.”
