As most of you may know attorney Jerry M. Blevins from Elmore county has fought long and hard through court processes to be able to run in the election for judgeship seat 3. The seat is currently held by Judge Sibley G. Reynolds who also lives in Chilton County. Sibley Reynolds was born and raised in Chilton County his father the late Morgan Reynolds was also a Judge in Chilton County and they both have practiced law in Chilton County. Sibley G. Reynolds is well known in Chilton County and many of the cases that he presides over are cases of very familiar faces; friends, colleagues, staff, etc. The Alabama Supreme Court recently made a decision affecting the voter’s rights in ONE circuit; the 19th Circuit ONLY. The 19th Circuit is the ONLY Circuit that requires the qualified candidate to reside in the county they wish to preside in. In the Alabama Code of 1975 you will notice if you read it, that the only Circuit with a residency requirement is the 19th….Numbers 1-15 there is NO statement of residency requirements….Numbers 17-32 NO statement of residency requirements. If you live in Chilton County you can preside in Birmingham as a judge, does this make any damn since???, but you cannot live in Elmore County and preside in Chilton County and they are neighboring counties that belong to the same Circuit. THINK ABOUT THIS PEOPLE!!!! Is this FAIR at all to QUALIFIED candidates who wish to run in the election???
The Alabama Supreme Court in Blevins V. Chapman states;
“Echoing the above-stated rationale, the residency requirement imposed by § 12-17-20 (b) (16) gives the voters of each county in the 19th Judicial Circuit the opportunity for a greater level of familiarity with the candidates for at least one of the judgeships in the circuit. Conversely, it ensures that among the three judges of the 19th Judicial Circuit, at least one judge will be familiar with each county within the circuit. It promotes the appearance of justice by preventing a more populous county from dominating the judicial seats in the circuit. It avoids the possibility of excessive recusals: by requiring that the three circuit judges be residents from the three counties that compose the circuit, it reduces the chances that more than one of the judges in the circuit might have to recuse himself or herself from a case because of familiarity with the parties or because of the circumstances of the case.”
Okay! According to the Alabama Supreme Court’s recent ruling, they want us to be FAMILIAR (IN THE 19TH CIRCUIT ONLY) with the candidate so it reduces the chances of recusal from a case because of FAMILAIRITY with the parties. It took 9 fucking judges to say that. These are the judges who make the top case decisions in our state;
Sue Bell Cobb
Lyn Stuart
Champ Lyons Jr.
Thomas A. Woodall
Patricia M. Smith
Glenn Murdock
Michael F. Bolin
Tom Parker
Greg Shaw
Sibley G. Reynolds is very familiar with the parties of each case he presides over. Regardless of recusal standards he will NOT recuse himself from a case where he can help out a friend, colleague, or staff member. If someone wants or feels the need to have him recused they have to file a complaint and then it is up to the Court of the Judiciary on whether or not he should be recused from the case. Being familiar with a judge presiding in your hometown is NEVER a good thing for either party. Justice should NOT be based on FAMILIARITY with the judge or the parties. It sounds like to me there was FAMILIARITY on the part of the Supreme Court in this particular ruling. Justice is suppose to be FAIR AND IMPARTIAL you would think the Alabama Supreme Court would know that. The decision to take ONE Circuit and restrict qualified residents/candidates within that Circuit from running is NOT fair and impartial justice, what about the other circuits within the state, shouldn’t they be required to reside in the county they preside in???
I WILL BE CAMPGAIGNING FOR JERRY M. BLEVINS AS A WRITE-IN ON THE BALLOT FOR THE 19TH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT…..IT IS TIME FOR THE VOTERS TO BE HEARD!!
Section 12-17-20
Number of judges in each circuit.
(a) Except as otherwise provided in this section, each judicial circuit of the state shall have one resident circuit judge.
(b) In the following judicial circuits, there shall be the number of resident circuit judges listed below:
(1) There shall be two circuit judges in the first judicial circuit. The judge occupying judgeship No. 1 shall be the presiding judge.
(2) There shall be three circuit judges in the fourth judicial circuit.
(3) There shall be three circuit judges in the fifth judicial circuit.
(4) There shall be six circuit judges in the sixth judicial circuit.
(5) There shall be five circuit judges in the seventh judicial circuit.
(6) There shall be three circuit judges in the eighth judicial circuit.
(7) There shall be three circuit judges in the ninth judicial circuit.
(8) There shall be 27 circuit judges in the tenth judicial circuit. The judge occupying judgeship No. 23 shall serve the Birmingham domestic relations division, and the judges occupying judgeship Nos. 21, 22 and 24 shall serve the Birmingham civil division. The judge occupying judgeship No. 25 shall serve the Bessemer cut-off division. The judges occupying judgeship Nos. 26 and 27 shall serve in the Criminal Division of Jefferson County, Birmingham Division.
(9) There shall be three circuit judges in the eleventh judicial circuit.
(10) There shall be three circuit judges in the twelfth judicial circuit.
(11) There shall be eleven circuit judges in the thirteenth judicial circuit.
(12) There shall be three circuit judges in the fourteenth judicial circuit.
(13) There shall be nine circuit judges in the fifteenth judicial circuit. At least two judges shall be assigned to the criminal division of said circuit, and one or more judges shall be assigned to the civil division, in the discretion of the presiding judge. The judge occupying judgeship No. 7 shall serve the family court division of said circuit.
(14) There shall be four circuit judges in the sixteenth judicial circuit.
(15) There shall be four circuit judges in the eighteenth judicial circuit.
(16) There shall be three circuit judges in the nineteenth judicial circuit. The judge occupying judgeship No. 1 shall be a resident of Elmore County, the judge occupying judgeship No. 2 shall be a resident of Autauga County, and the judge occupying judgeship No. 3 shall be a resident of Chilton County.
(17) There shall be five circuit judges in the twentieth judicial circuit.
(18) There shall be two circuit judges in the twenty-first judicial circuit.
(19) There shall be two circuit judges in the twenty-second judicial circuit.
(20) There shall be six circuit judges in the twenty-third judicial circuit.
(21) There shall be two circuit judges in the twenty-fifth judicial circuit.
(22) There shall be two circuit judges in the twenty-sixth judicial circuit.
(23) There shall be two circuit judges in the twenty-seventh judicial circuit.
(24) There shall be five circuit judges in the twenty-eighth judicial circuit.
(25) There shall be three circuit judges in the twenty-ninth judicial circuit.
(26) There shall be two circuit judges in the thirtieth judicial circuit.
(27) There shall be two circuit judges in the thirty-first judicial circuit.
(28) There shall be two circuit judges in the thirty-second judicial circuit.
(29) There shall be two circuit judges in the thirty-third judicial circuit.
(30) There shall be three circuit judges in the thirty-seventh judicial circuit. The judge occupying judgeship Number 3 shall preside over the family court division.
(31) There shall be two circuit judges in the thirty-eighth judicial circuit.
(32) There shall be two circuit judges in the thirty-ninth judicial circuit.
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