Judge Bob Vance Makes Second Run for State’s Top Judicial Seat
Judge Bob Vance has been a civil circuit judge in Jefferson County since 2002. This year he’s trying for a second time to become the head of Alabama’s court system. Vance is the Democratic nominee for Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court. He faces current Supreme Court Associate Justice Republican Tom Parker in November. Vance spoke with WBHM’s Andrew Yeager.
Interview Highlights
Addressing the opioid epidemic:
“The problems that we’re talking about of course extend far beyond the courts … But I do think the courts play an important role in addressing the matter to the extent that we can build upon our existing efforts such as drug court and mental health court. And the data show that these efforts work. It’s just a matter of expanding where we can and focusing more and more on actually providing treatment rather than simply convicting and incarcerating people.”
Funding of state courts:
“That funding level has been basically flat while the demands on it have grown. I make clear to folks on the campaign trail I have no magic wand. All I can do is make clear my commitment as chief justice to work with the legislature, roll my sleeves up, and really get at the hard process of getting every dime we can for the courts to make sure we can do whatever is possible in dealing with these kinds of issues.”
Partisanship and the courts:
“Yes, we have to run on a partisan basis but once we judges step into the courthouse, politics has no place … I’ve worked with judges Democrat and Republican. And I’ve got good friends in both parties. There’s never been a whiff of problem or trouble arising out of partisan politics. Not once.”
Hear the full conversation with Judge Vance:
WBHM has invited Vance’s Republican opponent, Justice Tom Parker, for an interview. His campaign has declined.
After his mother’s death, Ocean Vuong wrote his way out of grief
Vuong's new novel, The Emperor of Gladness, is the first he's written, from start to finish, since his mother died in 2019. He says writing it was a way to honor her memory.
Trump says he and Musk ‘had a great relationship. I don’t know if we will anymore’
Trump said he was surprised that his former adviser Elon Musk is scorching the Republican megabill, but said he thought Musk was wrong and conflicted in his criticism.
Concerns over conditions in U.S. immigration detention: ‘We’re hearing the word “starving” ‘
ICE detentions have surged, but deportations have lagged. Over the past month, NPR spoke to dozens of detainees, families and lawyers who spoke of overcrowded facilities lacking food and medicine.
In vitro fertilization emerges as a central issue in the Alabama state Supreme Court race
An Alabama fertility lawyer announced her candidacy for the state Supreme Court, emphasizing her personal experience with in vitro fertilization and blasting a controversial 2024 decision that ruled frozen embryos can be considered children under state law.
FBI Director Patel, a longtime bureau critic, begins to put his stamp on the agency
Since taking the helm more than 100 days ago, Patel has yet to shutter the FBI headquarters and reopen it as a museum as he once said he would, but he has begun trying to remake the bureau.
Why inflation data won’t include prices from these cities in Utah, Nebraska and New York
The federal government is scaling back data collection used to calculate the inflation rate. Economists warn that could make for less accurate cost-of-living measures.
