Our friends at the Southern Poverty Law Center are taking one Alabama Supreme Court Justice to task for speaking openly about pending marriage equality cases.
From AL.com:
The Southern Poverty Law Center today filed a judicial ethics complaint against Alabama Supreme Court Tom Parker, claiming he inappropriately commented on pending same-sex marriage cases and voiced his personal opinions about the issue.
The complaint cites Parker's comments during an Oct. 6 appearance on the conservative radio show "Focal Point," hosted by Bryan Fischer of the American Family Association. It was filed with the Judicial Inquiry Commission of Alabama.
During the interview, Parker discussed a case currently pending before the Alabama Supreme Court, offered his personal opinion about the case and suggested that Alabama should defy the U.S. Supreme Court decision legalizing same-sex marriage, the SPLC said in a news release...
State law bars judges from publicly commenting about pending cases.
The SPLC also took issue with Parker agreeing to appear on "Focal Point," saying Fischer has made denigrating comments about gay men, Muslims and African Americans.
It should also be noted that Tom Parker is a former Religious Right activist, having been the founding Executive Director for both Alabama Family Alliance (now the Alabama Policy Institute) and the Alabama Family Advocates, "which were state organizations associated with Dr. James Dobson and Focus on the Family." Justice Parker was also an aide for Judge Roy Moore, whose antics have graced the blog pages of Americans United more than once.
Regardless of his extremist leanings, a judge with more than a decade on Alabama's Supreme Court should know better than to go on a conservative radio show run by a host who spouts anti-LGBT screeds and comment on pending marriage equality cases. It shows a shocking disrespect to the state laws he's meant to uphold and the citizens he's meant to represent.