By Brandon Moseley
Alabama Political Reporter
On Thursday, former Alabama Chief Justice Perry Hooper, Sr. endorsed his successor Former Chief Justice Roy Moore in Moore’s effort to recapture the office he was elected to in 2000. Former Alabama Supreme Court Justice Terri Butts and Alabama Criminal Appeals Judge Pam Baschab both also joined Hooper in endorsing Moore’s campaign to return to Alabama’s highest office.
Former Chief Justice Hooper said in a written statement, “As a former Marine and a chief justice, I wholeheartedly support Judge Roy Moore for Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court. As a Vietnam veteran, Judge Moore’s leadership experience and his vast knowledge of the law makes him the only truly qualified candidate in this race.”
Former Alabama Supreme Court Justice Terry Butts said, “I know Roy Moore. I know his wife and children. I know his judicial ability. I know his heart. I know Roy Moore is the right choice for Chief Justice.”
Judge Baschab stated, “I found Chief Justice Moore to be a good administrator who worked well with the trial courts and the legislature. His skills as an administrator were enhanced greatly by his military training as well as his trial court experience, something which is very rare nowadays in our appellate judges. It was an honor to serve with a man with the professional and personal integrity I found in Judge Roy Moore.”
Former Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court Perry Hooper Sr. was the first Republican Chief Justice to be elected since Reconstruction. Judge Moore ran for and was elected to the office when Chief Justice Hooper retired in 2000. Hooper also gave Judge Moore the Oath of Office in January 2001. Judge Moore became the second Republican Chief Justice since the South finally emerged from Reconstruction in the 1870s. Perry Hooper Sr. was elected probate judge in Montgomery County in 1964 (the first Republican in that post since Reconstruction) and later Circuit Court Judge a post he served in until 1983. Hooper was the Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate in 1968 when Sen. Lister Hill (D) retired. He was defeated in that election by Alabama Lt. Governor James Allen (D). In 1994 Hooper narrowly defeated incumbent Chief Justice Earnest “Sonny” Hornsby (D).
Former Chief Justice Moore responded to the news of Chief Justice Hooper’s endorsement saying, “I am honored to have one of the first Republican Chief Justices in modern history to endorse my candidacy. Chief Justice Hooper is a proven conservative and has been a leader in the Republican Party for many years.”
Justice Butts was elected to the Alabama Supreme Court in 1994 after serving as a circuit judge for eighteen years. Pam Baschab served on the Court of Criminal Appeals as Presiding Judge and also served as a district and circuit court in Baldwin County.
Judge Moore commented, “I am greatly honored to be endorsed by Justice Terry Butts and Judge Pam Baschab, who presided over the Court of Criminal Appeals while I was Chief Justice. I have the greatest respect and admiration for Justice Butts and Judge Baschab who have served this state honorably for many years.”
Moore’s Democratic opponent in the race is retiring Jefferson County Circuit Court Judge Robert Vance. Vance was recently endorsed by former Chief Justice Sue Bell Cobb (D) as well as by four of the Republican Supreme Court Justices who helped engineer Chief Justice Moore’s removal from the office in 2003.
