Alabama Judge Nomination Sparks Tension

 ========= Old Image Removed =========Array
(
    [_wp_attached_file] => Array
        (
            [0] => 2016/02/IMG_0705.jpg
        )

    [_wp_attachment_metadata] => Array
        (
            [0] => a:5:{s:5:"width";i:2448;s:6:"height";i:2448;s:4:"file";s:20:"2016/02/IMG_0705.jpg";s:5:"sizes";a:14:{s:6:"medium";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:20:"IMG_0705-336x336.jpg";s:5:"width";i:336;s:6:"height";i:336;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:5:"large";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:20:"IMG_0705-771x771.jpg";s:5:"width";i:771;s:6:"height";i:771;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:9:"thumbnail";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:20:"IMG_0705-140x140.jpg";s:5:"width";i:140;s:6:"height";i:140;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:12:"medium_large";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:20:"IMG_0705-768x768.jpg";s:5:"width";i:768;s:6:"height";i:768;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:9:"1536x1536";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:22:"IMG_0705-1536x1536.jpg";s:5:"width";i:1536;s:6:"height";i:1536;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:9:"2048x2048";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:22:"IMG_0705-2048x2048.jpg";s:5:"width";i:2048;s:6:"height";i:2048;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:9:"wbhm-icon";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:18:"IMG_0705-80x80.jpg";s:5:"width";i:80;s:6:"height";i:80;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:13:"wbhm-featured";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:20:"IMG_0705-600x338.jpg";s:5:"width";i:600;s:6:"height";i:338;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:20:"wbhm-featured-square";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:20:"IMG_0705-600x600.jpg";s:5:"width";i:600;s:6:"height";i:600;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:18:"wbhm-featured-home";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:20:"IMG_0705-311x311.jpg";s:5:"width";i:311;s:6:"height";i:311;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:22:"wbhm-featured-carousel";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:20:"IMG_0705-265x265.jpg";s:5:"width";i:265;s:6:"height";i:265;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:28:"ab-block-post-grid-landscape";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:20:"IMG_0705-600x400.jpg";s:5:"width";i:600;s:6:"height";i:400;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:25:"ab-block-post-grid-square";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:20:"IMG_0705-600x600.jpg";s:5:"width";i:600;s:6:"height";i:600;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:14:"post-thumbnail";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:20:"IMG_0705-125x125.jpg";s:5:"width";i:125;s:6:"height";i:125;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}}s:10:"image_meta";a:12:{s:8:"aperture";s:1:"0";s:6:"credit";s:0:"";s:6:"camera";s:0:"";s:7:"caption";s:0:"";s:17:"created_timestamp";s:1:"0";s:9:"copyright";s:0:"";s:12:"focal_length";s:1:"0";s:3:"iso";s:1:"0";s:13:"shutter_speed";s:1:"0";s:5:"title";s:0:"";s:11:"orientation";s:1:"0";s:8:"keywords";a:0:{}}}
        )

    [_media_credit] => Array
        (
            [0] => Ashley Cleek
        )

    [_navis_media_credit_org] => Array
        (
            [0] => 
        )

    [_navis_media_can_distribute] => Array
        (
            [0] => 
        )

    [_imagify_optimization_level] => Array
        (
            [0] => 1
        )

    [_imagify_data] => Array
        (
            [0] => a:2:{s:5:"stats";a:3:{s:13:"original_size";i:1279907;s:14:"optimized_size";i:685464;s:7:"percent";d:46.439999999999998;}s:5:"sizes";a:9:{s:4:"full";a:5:{s:7:"success";b:1;s:8:"file_url";s:48:"https://news.wbhm.org/media/2016/02/IMG_0705.jpg";s:13:"original_size";i:1045446;s:14:"optimized_size";i:520862;s:7:"percent";d:50.18;}s:9:"thumbnail";a:2:{s:7:"success";b:0;s:5:"error";s:77:"WELL DONE. This image is already compressed, no further compression required.";}s:6:"medium";a:5:{s:7:"success";b:1;s:8:"file_url";s:56:"https://news.wbhm.org/media/2016/02/IMG_0705-336x336.jpg";s:13:"original_size";i:28694;s:14:"optimized_size";i:21488;s:7:"percent";d:25.109999999999999;}s:5:"large";a:5:{s:7:"success";b:1;s:8:"file_url";s:56:"https://news.wbhm.org/media/2016/02/IMG_0705-771x771.jpg";s:13:"original_size";i:105512;s:14:"optimized_size";i:68299;s:7:"percent";d:35.270000000000003;}s:13:"wbhm-featured";a:5:{s:7:"success";b:1;s:8:"file_url";s:56:"https://news.wbhm.org/media/2016/02/IMG_0705-338x338.jpg";s:13:"original_size";i:29316;s:14:"optimized_size";i:21878;s:7:"percent";d:25.370000000000001;}s:20:"wbhm-featured-square";a:5:{s:7:"success";b:1;s:8:"file_url";s:56:"https://news.wbhm.org/media/2016/02/IMG_0705-300x300.jpg";s:13:"original_size";i:24593;s:14:"optimized_size";i:18400;s:7:"percent";d:25.18;}s:18:"wbhm-featured-home";a:5:{s:7:"success";b:1;s:8:"file_url";s:56:"https://news.wbhm.org/media/2016/02/IMG_0705-311x311.jpg";s:13:"original_size";i:25668;s:14:"optimized_size";i:19100;s:7:"percent";d:25.59;}s:22:"wbhm-featured-carousel";a:5:{s:7:"success";b:1;s:8:"file_url";s:56:"https://news.wbhm.org/media/2016/02/IMG_0705-265x265.jpg";s:13:"original_size";i:20678;s:14:"optimized_size";i:15437;s:7:"percent";d:25.350000000000001;}s:14:"post-thumbnail";a:2:{s:7:"success";b:0;s:5:"error";s:77:"WELL DONE. This image is already compressed, no further compression required.";}}}
        )

    [_imagify_status] => Array
        (
            [0] => success
        )

)
1636751620 
1456140688

With the death of Supreme Chief Justice Antonin Scalia, the fight over judicial appointments to federal judgeships has only grown more intense. Alabama’s seat on the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta has been vacant for two years. Earlier this month, President Barack Obama nominated federal judge Abdul Kallon to fill the seat.

Several prominent lawyers, judges, and U.S. Representative Terri Sewell held a press conference on Saturday in downtown Birmingham in support of Judge Abdul Kallon’s nomination to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Sewell, who is a lawyer and has worked with Judge Kallon, said that his nomination will will a vacancy in the court and a void in diversity among federal judges. There are only two African American federal judges in Alabama, and only one African American judge on the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

The case for increasing the number of black federal judges in the state of Alabama is clear,” Sewell stated. “The selection of this nation’s federal judges should not be a partisan issue.”

Federal judges are nominated by the President and then confirmed or rejected at a Senate hearing. Following Kallon’s nomination by President Obama, Alabama Senators Jeff Sessions and Richard Shelby released a joint statement opposing the choice.

Kallon is currently a judge on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama. Both Shelby and Sessions supported his nomination to that seat back in 2009.

The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals serves Alabama, Florida, and Georgia. According to the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, the court’s case backlog is considered a ‘judicial emergency.’

 

Trump to name former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee as ambassador to Israel

In the midst of the Israel-Hamas war, President-elect Donald Trump announced he will nominate Huckabee, a loyalist and former Republican governor, to serve in the key post as ambassador to Israel.

With Trump coming into power, the NIH is in the crosshairs

The National Institutes of Health, the crown jewel of biomedical research in the U.S., could face big changes under the new Trump administration, some fueled by pandemic-era criticisms of the agency.

A man told 911 a bear chased him off a cliff. Weeks later, he was arrested for murder

Authorities say Nicholas Hamlett killed a man in Tennessee in an attempt to steal his identity, and reported it to police as a bear attack. He was arrested in South Carolina after a weekslong manhunt.

Federal judge blocks Louisiana law that requires classrooms to display Ten Commandments

The new Louisiana requirement that the Ten Commandments be displayed in every public classroom by Jan. 1 was temporarily blocked Tuesday. The judge said the law is "unconstitutional on its face."

Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby resigns over sex abuse scandal

Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby has resigned over accusations that he failed to report physical and sexual abuse to the police.

A man drove his car into a crowd in southern China, killing 35

A man who authorities said was upset over his divorce settlement rammed his car into a crowd of people exercising at a sports complex in southern China, police said.

More Front Page Coverage