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Influential conservatives are pressing President-elect Donald Trump to nominate Bill Pryor, a judge feared and disdained by liberals but loved by conservatives because of his “titanium spine,” to the Supreme Court. Pryor is said to be on Trump’s short list to replace the legendary conservative Justice Antonin Scalia, who died almost a year ago. Trump told reporters Wednesday that he will announce his nominee within two weeks of taking the oath of office on Jan. 20. Conservatives want an intellectual heavyweight to fill Scalia’s shoes and fulfill Trump’s promise made during last year’s campaign to nominate a justice “in the...

Among the names cited by candidates was Bill Pryor, Alabama's former Attorney General, who was mentioned by GOP front runner Donald Trump. While AG, Pryor drew the ire of many conservatives when he backed the decision by the Alabama Court of Judiciary to oust Chief Justice Roy Moore from his position for Moore's refusal to follow a federal court order for the removal of a monument of the 10 Commandments from the front of the state's judicial building. Pryor, who is Catholic, argued the Moore had "flagrantly disobeyed the law, incited the public to support his misconduct and undermined the...

Excerpt: Bill Pryor, the former attorney general of Alabama, prosecuted Roy Moore in 2003 over his refusal to remove a Ten Commandments monument from the rotunda of the Alabama Supreme Court. Pryor's comments to Moore during his trial focused more on Moore's refusal to stop acknowledging God as chief justice. "[Y]our understanding is that the federal court ordered that you could not acknowledge God; isn't that right?" Pryor asked. "And if you resume your duties as chief justice after this proceeding, you will continue to acknowledge God as you have testified that you would today?" "That's right," Moore replied.

During the Republican debate on Saturday night, Donald Trump floated two names as potential nominees to the U.S. Supreme Court: Judge Diane S. Sykes and Judge Bill Pryor. “We could have a Diane Sykes or a Bill Pryor, we have some fantastic people,” Trump told the audience. Both judges are well-known conservatives serving on the federal level. Who is Diane S. Sykes? Sykes is a federal judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. She was nominated by George W. Bush and confirmed in 2004. She went to Northwestern University and attended Marquette University Law School....

A Different Timpanist WASHINGTON, June 9 - On the day in 1973 that the Supreme Court made abortion legal, the Pryor family of Mobile, Ala., discussed it at the dinner table. Laura Pryor recalls that she and her husband, both teachers in Roman Catholic schools, were "very upset." But they had little idea what an impression the talk made on their 10-year-old son, William. -snip-- "We did not realize until later in life," she said, "until he was much older, how much we had influenced him on that." -- snip -- His father, William H. Pryor Sr., was the band...

Their reasons may be corrupt. Their emotions may be out of control. Their motivations may be wrong. But insofar as the Democrats seek to block President Bush’s nomination of former Alabama Attorney General Bill Pryor to the federal courts, their actions should be applauded by every Christian who believes that evil should not be rewarded with good (Proverbs 17:15), that judges must fear God more than men (Exodus 18:21), and that Jesus Christ is Lord even over America’s judiciary (Psalm 2:10-12). Mr. Pryor is remembered for five defining events in his public career: 1. According to a sworn affidavit by...

An e-mailer makes excellent points: For instance, was Specter ever going to vote for Bill Pryor (who had to be recess appointed)? That there are even such questions, gets to this temperament issue… First, it must be noted that Specter's claim to have supported every Bush nominee isn't entirely true. It's only true that he supported CLOTURE on every Bush nominee. But, unless I missed something, he never promised to support Bill Pryor on final passage; indeed, reading between the lines, it was easy to take his hint that he actually would oppose Pryor on final passage. (Again, this bears...

Bill Pryor to replace Ashcroft? Monday, November 08, 2004 Editor's note: "The Political Skinny" is an inside look at Alabama politics prepared by the staff of the Mobile Register. The column is compiled by Political Editor Jim Van Anglen, who can be reached at :jvananglen@mobileregister.com or 251-219-5608. Even before last Tuesday's election, speculation was running rampant about who might fill top jobs in a second Bush administration. Among those mentioned for U.S. attorney general: Mobile native and former Alabama Attorney General Bill Pryor. Publications ranging from The National Journal, a respected political weekly in Washington, D.C., to The Guardian newspaper...

Slate columnist Timothy Noah speaks with former Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore, who gained national recognition for placing a monument to the Ten Commandments in the courthouse lobby in defiance of a court order. Moore discusses issues ranging from gay marriage, the separation of church and state and his own political ambitions.

Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) chastised Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA) on Tuesday for sending a letter to a district court questioning the constitutionality of a recent recess appointment made by President George W. Bush. As previously reported by Talon News, Bush exercised his constitutional authority to appoint a half dozen judicial nominees which had been filibustered by the Democratic minority in the U.S. Senate on February 20. One of these appointments included Alabama Attorney General William H. Pryor Jr., who was named to fill a vacancy on the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, which is over federal court appeals from Alabama,...

U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., is threatening a legal challenge to one of President Bush's recess appointments. The liberal senator claims the appointment of Alabama Attorney General William Pryor to a position on the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals was unconstitutional. At issue: Was the 10-day period when Congress was away a recess according to the Constitution? Pepperdine University Law Professor Douglas Kmiec argues that it was."Certainly, the modern practice of Republican and Democrat presidents alike is that intrasession appointments are constitutional so long as the recess was at least 3 days," Kmiec said. Kennedy, however, believes that only when...

Pick Your Poison By Adam Graham California Attorney General Bill Lockyer has done nothing to stop San Francisco from performing illegal same sex marriages and by some news accounts, Lockyer is even complicit in the ceremonies. The contrast between him and Alabama Attorney General Bill Pryor who supported the display of the Ten Commandments but still fought to have Judge Roy Moore removed is telling. It paints a picture of two parties playing by two separate sets of rules. Judicial Tyranny of the Left Conservatives believe in the rule of law. And for many conservatives this means the rule of...

According to news reports, "President Bush used a recess appointment Friday [Feb. 20] to give Alabama Attorney General Bill Pryor a seat on the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals temporarily. Pryor was sworn in by U.S. Circuit Judge Ed Carnes in a private ceremony in Alabama Friday. His appointment is expected to last until the end of 2005." Faithful readers of this column know that Pryor was the political Judas who turned against Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore after promising former Alabama Governor Fob James and the people of Alabama that he would back Moore "all the way."...

President George W. Bush has slapped the face of conservatives and those who believe in God with his recess appointment of former Alabama Attorney General Bill Pryor to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th District, Constitution Party National Chairman Jim Clymer said today. "Of all the people waiting to be confirmed for federal judgeships, it is stunning that Bill Pryor would be the president's choice for this extraordinary move," said Clymer. Pryor prosecuted former Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore for refusing to remove a Ten Commandments monument from the Alabama Judicial Building and Moore was removed...

<p>Last Friday, President Bush announced the recess appointment of Alabama Attorney General William H. Pryor to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. This is Mr. Bush's second recess appointment to a judgeship in two months, and only the third such appointment by a president since 1980. Considering that the highly qualified Judge Pryor had no chance of beating a Democratic filibuster, we are happy to see the president make this rare but necessary move. After resigning his position as Alabama attorney general on Friday, Judge Pryor called the moment "bittersweet." We would have to agree.</p>

Bill Pryor Got His Judas Money By Chuck Baldwin February 25, 2004 According to news reports, "President Bush used a recess appointment Friday [Feb. 20] to give Alabama Attorney General Bill Pryor a seat on the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals temporarily. Pryor was sworn in by U.S. Circuit Judge Ed Carnes in a private ceremony in Alabama Friday. His appointment is expected to last until the end of 2005." Faithful readers of this column know that Pryor was the political Judas who turned against Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore after promising former Alabama Governor Fob James and...

ABC and CBS on Friday night greeted President Bush’s recess appointment of William Pryor to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals by putting his views on abortion in an unfavorable light (“an opponent of abortion rights”) while the Washington Post, without bothering to mention how he, as Attorney General of Alabama, enforced court rulings to remove a Ten Commandments display from the state Capitol building last year, portrayed him as putting personal religious beliefs ahead of the law: “In 1997, his first year as Alabama Attorney General, he invoked God's will while speaking at a Christian Coalition rally to defend...

Pryor sworn in as judge Bush appoints attorney general to 11th Circuit while Congress is away 02/21/04 MARY ORNDORFF News Washington correspondent WASHINGTON - Alabama Attorney General Bill Pryor was sworn in Friday as a federal judge just minutes after President Bush sidestepped a sharply divided U.S. Senate and placed him in the job while Congress was on break. Pryor stepped down as attorney general and can now start hearing cases with the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, an Atlanta-based court one level below the U.S. Supreme Court. From Our Advertiser "His impressive record demonstrates his devotion to the...

<p>President Bush bypassed a Democratic filibuster yesterday by installing Alabama Attorney General William H. Pryor to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals — his second recess appointment in as many months.</p> <p>Mr. Bush's action will allow Mr. Pryor to sit on the appellate bench, without Senate approval, until next January when the term of the present congressional session expires.</p>

Bush Installs Appeals Court Nominee Who Was Blocked by Senate Democrats By Jeffrey Mcmurray Feb. 20, 2004 Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) - Bypassing angry Senate Democrats, President Bush installed Alabama Attorney General William Pryor as a U.S. appeals court judge on Friday in his second "recess appointment" of a controversial nominee in five weeks. Pryor's federal appointment has been vigorously opposed by Democratic senators who have objected to his past comments and writings on abortion and homosexuality. Bush praised Pryor as a "leading American lawyer" and said he had been pushed past the Senate's normal confirmation process because of...