By Brandon Moseley
Alabama Political Reporter
On Tuesday, March 1, Alabama voters go to the polls to select their leaders. The only Supreme Court Justice facing a challenger is, Justice Tom Parker (R). Parker is being challenged by Donna Beaulieu.
Judge Parker told the Alabama Media Group’s Kent Faulk, “I’m a conservative constitutionalist and I have great respect for the separation of powers and the limited role of the judiciary to interpret the law rather than create it.”
In October, the Southern Poverty Law Center filed a complaint with the Alabama Judicial Inquiry Commission charging Parker with being outspoken on issues that could come before the court.
Parker said on Facebook, “All it does is just encourage me more.” “And as a judge who has to stand for election in a conservative state, it just ensures re-election when such extreme organizations oppose somebody who’s taken a strong conservative stand.”
In January, Justice Parker told the Alabama Political Reporter that he is confident that he will be re-elected to another term and that he enjoys getting out and talking to the people of the State.
Parker is also running on the ballot as a Republican Convention delegate for Ted Cruz.
Justice Tom Parker was elected to the Alabama Supreme Court in 2004 and was re-elected in 2010.
Parker was previously the Deputy Administrative Director of Courts, where he served as General Counsel for the Alabama court system, advising trial court judges, and as the Director of the Alabama Judicial College, providing training for new judges and continuing legal education for all the trial judges in Alabama. He also served as the Legal Adviser to the Chief Justice.
Parker has a degree from Dartmouth College and a law degree from Vanderbilt University School of Law. Parker also studied at the University of Sao Paulo School of Law, in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Parker worked in the Alabama Attorney General’s Office under then Alabama Attorneys General Jeff Sessions and Bill Pryor. As an Assistant Attorney General, he handled death penalty cases, criminal appeals, and constitutional litigation. He has extensive experience in writing appellate briefs and with oral arguments before the Supreme Court and the Court of Criminal Appeals. Previously, he was a partner in Parker & Kotouc, P.C. in Montgomery.
Tom Parker was the founding Executive Director of the Alabama Family Alliance (now the Alabama Policy Institute) and later, the founding Executive Director for the Alabama Family Advocates, which were state organizations associated with Dr. James Dobson and Focus on the Family.
Justice Parker has been married to Dottie James for 31 years. They are members of Frazer Memorial United Methodist Church.
Parker’s opponent is Donna Beaulieu. Beaulieu said in a statement, “I am a conservative and a Constitutionalist. I am not into killing babies. Marriage is between a man and a woman. Christians are under attack, especially with political correctness. Common core is a disaster. States’ rights vs. Federal law is a bit more complicated, but, having said that, the Federal Judiciary should not be creating laws.”
Beaulieu says on her website that she is a Christian, has been a member of the Alabama Bar since 1997, has been a practicing attorney for over 18 years and has worked in the legal field for 30 years. The Pelham attorney graduated from Cumberland School of Law at Samford University and has a 1993 University of Alabama at Birmingham degree. She has litigated Free Speech and Right to Bear Arms Cases.
Beaulieu wrote, “I was asked today why I am a strong supporter and have fought for the 2nd Amendment. There are many reasons for this. But one reason is because when I was in college I was driving home at night and I was deliberately run off the road by two men. They approached my car. I was able to get my gun out and just had it ready when they got to my car. I pointed it at them and they ran back to their truck and peeled away. Had I not had my gun I dread the thought of what would have happened.”
Former Judge Phillip Bahakel endorsed Beaulieu: “I have known Donna Beaulieu for over 17 years and she is a great person, an excellent Attorney and would serve the people of Alabama well as a Supreme Court Justice.
Please vote for her March 1, in the Republican Primary.”
The Republican Primary is Tuesday, March 1.
