Dean's Blog

On Thursday, the Alabama Supreme Court held oral arguments at the Wright Center here on campus along with the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals. Two members of the Supreme Court, Justice Bolin '73 and Justice Shaw '82 are Cumberland graduates. The oral aguments are a yearly event here at the law school and a fantastic opportunity to see an appellate court in action. This year's oral argument was particularly well done and an outstanding learning experience for our students.

One of the most horrific events of the civil rights movement was the bombing of the Sixteeth Street Baptist Church here in Birmingham on September 15, 1963 which resulted in the death of four little girls. The killers were brought to justice over 30 years later thanks to the work of a determined graduate of the Cumberland School of Law.

On Friday afternoon, I will be in the Morgan County Courthouse in Decatur, Alabama to participate in a ceremony honoring one of the most courageous judges in American history, Judge James Edwin Horton. I am particularly proud to participate because Judge James E. Horton is a Cumberland graduate from the class of 1899. Judge Horton was an Alabama circuit judge who presided over the trial of one of the Scottsboro boys, Haywood Patterson. The Scottsboro boys were wrongly convicted of the rape in the 1930's amid an atmosphere of violence and racial hatred.

Cecil Cheves and I graduated as members of the Cumberland Class of 1974. We have been friends ever since. Cecil has managed to balance the life of a successful lawyer with a passion for physical fitness. A few years ago, Cecil ran a marathon a month for a year. He and I have also done some triathlons together. (Cecil wins but he is younger).

I had a unique opportunity to attend the confirmation hearings last week for Supreme Court nominee Judge Sonia Sotomayor. Senator Jeff Sessions extended an invitation to both me and the Dean of the University of Alabama School of Law and I was pleased to accept. As a result of the invitation I spent Tuesday watching the members of the Senate Judiciary Committee ask Judge Sotomayor questions. I came away with two important impressions.