Tom Parker (Alabama)
Tom Parker (Republican Party) was the Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court. He assumed office on January 14, 2019. He left office on January 19, 2025.
Parker (Republican Party) ran for election as Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court. He won in the general election on November 6, 2018.
In Alabama, the position of chief justice is a specific seat on the court (similar to the Supreme Court of the United States) rather than a peer-selected leadership position. Parker was elected as chief justice in 2018.
Parker first became a member of the Alabama Supreme Court through a partisan election. He was first elected to the court as an associate justice in 2004 and was re-elected in 2010 and 2016. To read more about judicial selection in Alabama, click here.
In 2020, Ballotpedia published Ballotpedia Courts: State Partisanship, a study examining the partisan affiliation of all state supreme court justices in the country. As part of this study, we assigned each justice a Confidence Score describing our confidence in the degree of partisanship exhibited by the justices' past partisan behavior, before they joined the court.[1] Parker received a confidence score of Strong Republican.[2] Click here to read more about this study.
Biography
Parker received his undergraduate degree from Dartmouth College, where he graduated cum laude, and his J.D. from Vanderbilt University Law School. He also attended the University of Sao Paolo School of Law on a Rotary International Fellowship.[3] Prior to joining the court, Parker served as an assistant attorney general, a deputy administrative director of courts, and as the director of the Alabama Judicial College, then became a partner with Parker & Kotouc, P.C. He was elected to the Alabama Supreme Court in 2004 and became chief justice in 2019.[3]
Parker founded the Alabama Family Alliance (known as the Alabama Policy Institute as of June 2021) in 1989 and served as its first executive director. As of June 2021, the organization's stated mission was to "[protect] fairness, freedom, and families by investigating, informing about, and initiating positive public policy."[4]
Elections
2024
- See also: Alabama Supreme Court elections, 2024
Tom Parker did not file to run for re-election. He could not run again because Alabama law does not allow the election or appointment of judges who reach 70 years of age.[5]
2018
General election
General election for Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice
Tom Parker defeated Robert S. Vance in the general election for Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Tom Parker (R) | 57.4 | 975,564 |
 | Robert S. Vance (D) | 42.5 | 723,149 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.1 | 1,073 | ||
| Total votes: 1,699,786 (100.00% precincts reporting) | |||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice
Robert S. Vance advanced from the Democratic primary for Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice on June 5, 2018.
Candidate | ||
| ✔ | | Robert S. Vance |
| ||||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice
Tom Parker defeated incumbent Lyn Stuart in the Republican primary for Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice on June 5, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Tom Parker | 51.8 | 267,559 |
 | Lyn Stuart | 48.2 | 248,605 | |
| Total votes: 516,164 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
2016
- See also: Alabama Supreme Court elections, 2016
Parker filed to run for re-election to the Alabama Supreme Court. He defeated Donna Beaulieu in the Republican primary election on March 1, 2016. No Democratic candidates filed to run for the seat.[6]
Election results
November 8 general election
Incumbent Tom Parker ran unopposed in the general election for the Alabama Supreme Court, Place 3.
| Alabama Supreme Court, Place 3, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | |
| Republican |  Tom Parker Incumbent (unopposed) | |
Primary
| Alabama Supreme Court, Place 3, Republican Primary, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican | Tom Parker Incumbent |
72.50% | 448,747 | |
| Republican | Donna Beaulieu | 27.50% | 170,194 | |
| Total Votes (100% Reporting) | 618,941 | |||
| Source: Alabama Secretary of State Certified Results | ||||
Endorsements
- Alabama Retail Association[7]
2010
- Main article: Alabama judicial elections, 2010
| Alabama Supreme Court, Associate Justice 2010 general election results | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Votes | Percent | ||
| Tom Parker (R)
|
849,323 | 59% | ||
| Mac Parsons (D) | 591,678 | 41% | ||
- Click here for 2010 general election results from the Alabama Secretary of State.
Parker defeated James R. Houts and Eric Johnston in the Republican primary. He defeated Mac Parsons (D) in the general election.[8][9]
2006
Parker ran for the position of chief justice in 2006 but was defeated by Sue Bell Cobb (D).[10]
| Candidate | Incumbent | Seat | Party | Election % |  |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sue Bell Cobb  |
No | Chief Justice | Democratic | 51.5% | |
| Drayton Nabers, Jr. | Yes | Chief Justice | Republican | 48.4% | |
| Tom Parker | No | Chief Justice | Republican |
2004
On November 2, 2004, Parker defeated Robert H. Smith to become a justice on the Alabama Supreme Court. [11]
| Candidate | Incumbent | Seat | Party | Primary % | Election % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tom Parker |
No | Place 1 | Republican | 50.9% | 55.8% | |
| Robert H. Smith | No | Place 1 | Democratic | 44.1% | ||
| Jean Brown | Yes | Place 1 | Republican | 49% |
Analysis
Ballotpedia Courts: State Partisanship (2020)
Last updated: June 15, 2020
In 2020, Ballotpedia published Ballotpedia Courts: State Partisanship, a study examining the partisan affiliation of all state supreme court justices in the country as of June 15, 2020.
The study presented Confidence Scores that represented our confidence in each justice's degree of partisan affiliation. This was not a measure of where a justice fell on an ideological spectrum, but rather a measure of how much confidence we had that a justice was or had been affiliated with a political party. The scores were based on seven factors, including but not limited to party registration.[12]
The five resulting categories of Confidence Scores were:
- Strong Democrat
- Mild Democrat
- Indeterminate[13]
- Mild Republican
- Strong Republican
This justice's Confidence Score, as well as the factors contributing to that score, is presented below. The information below was current as of June 2020.
Tom
Parker
Alabama
- Partisan Confidence Score:
Strong Republican - Judicial Selection Method:
Elected - Key Factors:
- Was a registered Republican
- Donated over $2,000 to Republican candidates
- Held political office as a Republican
Partisan Profile
Details:
Parker ran as a Republican to gain his seat on the Alabama Supreme Court. He donated $7,726 to Republican candidates and organizations. Parker served as Assistant Attorney General for Jeff Sessions (R) and Bill Pryor (R). He received donations and endorsements from Republican-affiliated organizations including Pro Business PAC, Progress for Justice, and The Alabama Republican Assembly.
Other Scores:
In a 2012 study of campaign contributions, Parker received a campaign finance score of 0.93, indicating a conservative ideological leaning.
Bonica and Woodruff campaign finance scores (2012)
In October 2012, political science professors Adam Bonica and Michael Woodruff of Stanford University attempted to determine the partisan ideology of state supreme court justices. They created a scoring system in which a score above 0 indicated a more conservative-leaning ideology, while scores below 0 were more liberal.
Parker received a campaign finance score of 0.93, indicating a conservative ideological leaning. This was more conservative than the average score of 0.79 that justices received in Alabama.
The study was based on data from campaign contributions by the judges themselves, the partisan leaning of those who contributed to the judges' campaigns, or, in the absence of elections, the ideology of the appointing body (governor or legislature). This study was not a definitive label of a justice, but an academic summary of various relevant factors.[14]
Noteworthy cases
Driver's exams in multiple languages
A 2007 decision from the Alabama Supreme Court held that offering driver's tests in languages other than English did not violate a 1990 amendment to the Alabama Constitution declaring English to be Alabama's official language. The amendment stated that the legislature "shall make no law which diminishes or ignores the role of English as the common language of the state of Alabama."
Prior to the 1990 amendment, driver's exams had been offered in 14 languages. In 1991, the state Department of Public Safety began giving all driver's exams in English, though a lawsuit in 1998 prompted the department to again offer driver's exams in multiple languages.
The court's 5-4 decision upheld a lower court ruling stating that administering the test in multiple languages did not diminish the status of English as Alabama's official language. Chief Justice Sue Bell Cobb wrote for the majority, citing Gov. Bob Riley's argument that people who took the exam in their native language could be better assimilated into the community because having a license improves access to education, employment, and shopping.
Four justices—Glenn Murdock, Lyn Stuart, Michael Bolin, and Tom Parker—dissented. Bolin wrote in his dissent: "The immigrants who came to Alabama by way of Ellis Island in the early 20th century did not have the benefit of a tortured construction of Amendment No. 509 and evidently 'assimilated' the wrong way — they actually learned the English language."[15]
State supreme court judicial selection in Alabama
- See also: Judicial selection in Alabama
The nine justices on the Alabama Supreme Court are selected through partisan elections for six-year terms. They appear on partisan election ballots statewide and face re-election if they wish to serve again.[16] For more information about these elections, visit the Alabama judicial elections page.
Qualifications
To serve on this court, a judge must be:
- licensed to practice law for at least 10 years;
- a state resident for at least one year;
- under the age of 70 at the time of election (judges who turn 70 in office may serve until their terms expire).[17][18]
Chief justice
The chief justice of the court is selected by popular vote, serving in that office for his or her full six-year term.[16][19]
Vacancies
Should a vacancy occur between regularly scheduled elections, which take place in November of even-numbered years, an interim justice is appointed by the governor. Any justice appointed in this fashion must then stand for election in the next general election occurring at least one year after taking office.[16][20]
The map below highlights how vacancies are filled in state supreme courts across the country.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ We calculated confidence scores by collecting several data points such as party registration, donations, and previous political campaigns.
- ↑ The five possible confidence scores were: Strong Democrat, Mild Democrat, Indeterminate, Mild Republican, and Strong Republican.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Alabama Judicial System, Supreme Court, "Chief Justice Tom Parker," accessed June 9, 2021
- ↑ Alabama Policy Institute, "About," accessed June 9, 2021
- ↑ Associated Press, "Bryan Taylor, governor’s ex-chief legal adviser, to run for Alabama Supreme Court chief justice," June 14, 2023
- ↑ Alabama Secretary of State, "Certified Republican primary results," accessed June 9, 2021
- ↑ WTVY.com, "Alabama Retail Assoc. Endorses Shelby & Roby," February 16, 2016
- ↑ The Anniston Star, "Parker, Bolin win Ala. Supreme Court races," June 1, 2010
- ↑ Press-Register "Supreme Court Place 3: Tom Parker defeats Mac Parsons," November 2, 2010
- ↑ Alabama Secretary of State, "2006 statewide elections certificate of results," accessed June 9, 2021
- ↑ Alabama Secretary of State, "2004 election results," accessed June 9, 2021
- ↑ The seven factors were party registration, donations made to partisan candidates, donations made to political parties, donations received from political parties or bodies with clear political affiliation, participation in political campaigns, the partisanship of the body responsible for appointing the justice, and state trifecta status when the justice joined the court.
- ↑ An Indeterminate score indicates that there is either not enough information about the justice’s partisan affiliations or that our research found conflicting partisan affiliations.
- ↑ Stanford University, "State Supreme Court Ideology and 'New Style' Judicial Campaigns," October 31, 2012
- ↑ Free Republic, "Alabama Supreme Court 'allows' drivers exam in Spanish," October 20, 2007
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 Alabama Judicial System, "Qualification of Judges," accessed March 23, 2023
- ↑ Judicial Retirement Laws, "Alabama: Mandatory Retirement Provisions Applicable Generally," accessed August 10, 2021
- ↑ Alabama Secretary of State, "Minimum Qualifications for Public Office," accessed March 23, 2023
- ↑ Justia, "Article VI, Alabama Constitution - Section 152," accessed March 23, 2023
- ↑ Brennan Center for Justice, "Judicial Selection: An Interactive Map," accessed March 23, 2023
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by - |
Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice 2019-2025 |
Succeeded by Sarah Stewart (R) |
| Preceded by - |
Alabama Supreme Court 2005-2019 |
Succeeded by - |
Federal courts:
Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: Northern District of Alabama, Middle District of Alabama, Southern District of Alabama • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: Northern District of Alabama, Middle District of Alabama, Southern District of Alabama
State courts:
Alabama Supreme Court • Alabama Court of Civil Appeals • Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals • Alabama Circuit Courts • Alabama District Courts • Alabama Juvenile Courts • Alabama Municipal Courts • Alabama Probate Courts • Alabama Small Claims Courts
State resources:
Courts in Alabama • Alabama judicial elections • Judicial selection in Alabama
