Judge Richard Minor campaigns in Etowah County
On Saturday, Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals Judge Richard Minor addressed the Etowah County Republican breakfast meeting in Rainbow City. Minor is serving his first term in the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals. “I am one of the five judges on the Court of Criminal Appeals,” Minor said. Minor said his legal career began “As a clerk as a senior at Auburn for then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions.” Minor then got his law degree from Cumberland Law School at Samford University. He worked as a prosecutor in Tuscaloosa and Jefferson County before becoming an assistant district attorney in St Clair County. Minor was elected as District Attorney of St. Clair County. Minor explained that when Alabama became a state, there were five judicial circuits and five judges. “The five judges met together to comprise the Supreme Court to decide matters of law,” Minor said. “Today, there are 41 circuits and Bessemer,” Minor said. “Judges were appointed by the Legislature until after Reconstruction then became elected.” Minor explained that the first Supreme Court could consider points of law, not points of facts, as they ruled in the 1821 Fleming case, which was the first capital case before the Alabama Supreme Court. The Court of Criminal Appeals is similar. “If it is a question of fact, we can’t hear the case,” Minor said. The Criminal Court of Appeals can consider “just questions of law.” The (Alabama) Supreme Court can consider appeals based on fact. “The appellate rights we have today come from the legislature,” Minor said. “After Reconstruction, the Supreme Court went from 5 to 7 judges. In 1911 the Legislature created the Court of Appeals. Minor said that the modern appellate court structure was set in 1969 by Governor Albert Brewer and the Legislature. There is a Court of Criminal Appeals and a Court of Civil Appeals with nine justices on the Supreme Court. “Mary Windom is the presiding judge on the Court of Criminal Appeals,” Minor explained. “Amy Lola Price was the first presiding judge of the Court of Criminal Appeals,” Minor said. “She was a judge before women could serve on a jury.” “We handle between 1,100 and 1,600 appeals a year,” Minor said. “We are the fourth most active mid-level appeals court in the nation and the 11th most active appellate court in the country.” Minor explained that 11 of the 18 appellate court judgeships will be on the ballot in 2024. “I am on the ballot in March. So is Bill Cole,” Minor said. “There is an open seat on our court because Judge (Chris) McCool is running for Supreme Court.” “Two individuals out of the AGs office are campaigning for the (open) seat,” Minor said. Minor said that the Court of Criminal Appeals has such a large caseload because everyone convicted of a crime has a right to appeal in Alabama. “We don’t have the right to deny them the right to appeal like the Supreme Court does,” Minor said. “We have a 4 or 5% reversal rate.” “Sometimes the judge did something wrong,” Minor said. “Sometimes the sentencing is wrong.” Minor explained that there is an issue when a judge finds a defendant guilty of both a major felony and a Class D felony in how the sentencing of that felony is allowed to be run. Minor said it is important for defense counsels to raise an objection on a matter of law during the trial. “If defense council doesn’t make an objection, there is nothing you can do about it,” Minor explained. “Words mean something,” Minor said. “If the legislature put a certain word in a statute, it means something.” “At the Court of Criminal Appeals, even though if I don’t like the law, we can’t change them,” Minor said. “At the Supreme Court, they can change them.” An example of that is the year and a day rule. “That came over from England in the common law,” Minor explained. If a victim lives for a year and a day after the attack, the attacker cannot be charged with murder, but medical technology has changed a lot since then. “In 1986, the Supreme Court upheld the year and a day rule,” Minor continued. In a more recent case, the Alabama Supreme Court struck down the year and a day rule and allowed a murder trial to occur. “The Alabama Supreme Court can change it, but our court can’t,” Minor said. Another example occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic. You have a right to face your accuser. “The judge allowed the witnesses to wear masks,” Minor said. “It was a 3 to 2 decision, me and McCool,” voted that it violated the right to face your accusers principle. “They only take about 3% of the cases that come out of the Court of Criminal Appeals,” Minor said of the Alabama Supreme Court. “They will normally take capital cases.” “Eleven of the eighteen appellate judges will be on the ballot in March,” Minor said. “I hope that you will consider voting for me, Judge Cole, and also Judge McCool, who is running for Supreme Court.” Minor was asked about soft-on-crime district attorneys who make unilateral decisions not to enforce certain Alabama laws. “There are certain things I can and can’t say because of the rules for judges,” Minor said. “The district attorney is elected. The people of the county elected whoever that individual is. If that is what they want, then that is what they get. Things that are done here and in St. Clair County are done very differently than in other counties because that is how we are set up.” “It does cause concern when someone has sworn an oath to follow the Constitution, both the U.S. and Alabama, and that individual says they won’t enforce a law that is on the books. If you want to change it, then run for the Legislature. Not enforcing it is bad law.” “In February 2025, we will elect a new presiding judge because we will have a new judge,” Minor said. “It won’t change Mary
Judge Mary Windom withdraws candidacy for Alabama Supreme Court
Judge Mary Windom on Monday announced via a social media post that she will not seek election to the Supreme Court of Alabama in the 2022 election cycle. Windom stated on Twitter, “After prayerful consideration and discussion with my family, I have decided that I will not seek election to the Alabama Supreme Court in 2022,” Judge Windom wrote. “I will focus on spending time with my family and on my work as Presiding Judge of the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals,” Windom concluded. I thank the many wonderful people across Alabama who has encouraged me to run.” pic.twitter.com/K6TH998zeT — Judge Mary Windom (@JudgeMaryWindom) May 3, 2021 Windom, a judge of the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals, was viewed by many as the frontrunner for the Supreme Court race that will be open due to popular Justice Mike Bolin being age-limited out from running for reelection. She assumed office in 2008, and her current term ends on January 18, 2027. She ran for re-election for judge of the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals in 2020 and won. Insiders tell Yellowhammer News that Judge Chris McCool, a freshman member of the Court of Criminal Appeals, is now the likely frontrunner for the Supreme Court slot, although attorney Greg Cook could also mount a serious candidacy. “Judge Windom has a stellar record, is a rock-ribbed Republican and a prodigious fundraiser,” one insider told the Alabama Political Reporter. “She will be difficult to beat should she declare her candidacy for the State Supreme Court.” “Mary Windom is a winner; she’s honest and judicially consistent,” stated the second insider. “She is the very type of individual the people of Alabama can trust on the state’s highest court. I believe she will run, and she should.”
Inside the Statehouse: March 3rd primary analysis
Steve Flowers reviews last week’s primary results and the implications on the upcoming runoff.
Inside the Statehouse: Primaries next week
Steve Flowers discusses next week’s primary elections.
Steve Flowers: Honest, diligent women make their mark in Alabama politics
Hillary Clinton’s failure to break the proverbial glass ceiling in American politics came up a little short. More than 100 men have been nominated for president by the nation’s political parties over the past 220 years. She was the first female to be the nominee of one of the two major parties. After Hillary became the Democratic nominee last year, former Colorado Congresswoman Patricia Schroeder, who ran for president in 1988, said it best, “It’s been the ultimate tree house with a no girls allowed sign posted on it.” Nevertheless, national studies have indicated that women still face a double standard when it comes to political campaigns. These surveys reveal that voters will support a male candidate they do not like if they believe he is qualified. However, they are less likely to support a female candidate they think is qualified unless they also like her. Therefore, it appears that for women candidates, likeability is intrinsically linked to electability. However, when it comes to honesty and trustworthiness women have an enormous advantage. Voters simply trust women more than men. A study done by the respected Pew Research Center Poll revealed that 31 percent said women were more honest and ethical than men. Amazingly only 3 percent said men were more honest and ethical. I have observed and stated that same opinion for years. My observation when I was in the Legislature was that women legislators were more honest, forthright and more diligent in their duties. Other political experts have espoused this same belief, especially, when it comes to Alabama’s politics. In the 1990s, the nation’s business community brought the political guru, Karl Rove, to Alabama to help elect a pro-business state supreme court. He was successful in his endeavor. As he departed the state he left an emphatic statement, “If you want to hold the court in Republican pro-business hands, the best candidate is a conservative female Republican, preferably one who has experience as a Circuit Judge.” Voters simply trust women more and especially for judgeships. We now have a record number of women on our State Supreme Court and Courts of Appeals. There is no question that women in Alabama have an inherent advantage on the ballot in state judicial and secondary statewide races. If you put the name John Doe on a ballot against Jane Doe in Alabama and neither does any advertising and voters simply show up and vote in a secondary statewide race, Jane Doe will win every time. However, a survey conducted by the Center for Women and Politics at Rutgers University ranks Alabama 46th in the nation for women serving in the legislature. We are indeed inexplicably underrepresented by women in the State House and Senate. Although today we have numerous ladies in statewide office. Kelli Wise and Lyn Stuart are premier justices on the state Supreme Court. Judges Beth Kellum and Mary Windom serve with distinction on the State Court of Criminal Appeals. Judge Terri Thomas of Cullman is outstanding on the State Court of Civil Appeals. Kay Ivey is our Lieutenant Governor and Twinkle Cavanaugh serves as President of the Public Service Commission. In the course of history, it has not been that long that women were given the right to vote. The 19th Amendment to the Constitution gave women suffrage. Alabama’s legislature voted to ratify the 19th Amendment in 1953. However, women began to be elected statewide in Alabama long before other so-called progressive states. Beginning in the 1950s women dominated the offices of Secretary of State, State Auditor, and State Treasurer to such an extent that they became known as “the ladies’ offices.” The first woman elected to a statewide office was Sybil Poole who won the Secretary of State office in 1946. She was soon followed by the legendary Agnes Baggett and then Mary Texas Hurt Garner and Melba Till Allen. These women would simply swap the posts of Secretary of State and State Treasurer after their term limits. By the time Lurleen Wallace became the first female governor in 1967, women held almost half of Alabama’s constitutional offices. It may be time for another female governor. Twinkle Cavanaugh or Kay Ivey or someone else may make the leap. We will see. See you next week. ___ Steve Flowers is Alabama’s leading political columnist. His weekly column appears in over 60 Alabama newspapers. He served 16 years in the state Legislature. Steve may be reached at www.steveflowers.us.
