Talk of a possible replacement for late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia took center stage at Saturday night's Republican debate from South Carolina. Among the names cited by candidates was Bill Pryor, Alabama's former Attorney General, who was mentioned by GOP front runner Donald Trump.
Pryor's name is familiar to Alabamians. A native of Mobile, Pryor served as Alabama's Attorney General from 1997-2004, becoming the youngest state AG in the U.S. A Republican, he was first elected in 1998 and again in 2002.
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 integrity, independence, and impartiality of the judiciary."
"Because the chief justice intentionally and publicly engaged in misconduct, and because he remains unrepentant for his behavior," Pryor wrote in a pre-trial brief, "this court must remove the chief justice from office to protect the Alabama judiciary and the citizens who depend upon it for fair and impartial justice."
Moore was removed from office only to be reelected in 2012.
In 2005, Pryor was nominated by President George W. Bush a U.S. Circuit Judge for the 11th Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals. His nomination led to a partisan controversy in the Senate Judiciary Committee that one conservative magazine referred to as the "most extraordinary Judiciary Committee sessions in recent memory."
During the hearing, Pryor's comments on Roe v. Wade (he called it "the worst abomination in the history of constitutional law) and a high court decision on an Alabama death penalty case ("Issue should not be decided by nine octogenarian lawyers who happen to sit on the Supreme Court," Pryor said) drew the ire of Democrats.
When questioned by Senators about those and other controversial statements, Pryor didn't back down.
"I have a record as attorney general that is separate from my personal beliefs," Pryor told the Senators. "I am able to put aside personal beliefs and follow the law, even when I strongly disagree with it."
Pryor was eventually confirmed on a 53 to 45 vote after a brokered deal between Republicans and Democrats.
Pryor is a 1984 graduate of Northeast Louisiana University and a 1987 graduate of Tulane University School of Law. He has also served as an adjunct professor at Samford University's Cumberland School of Law and deputy AG in Alabama from 1995-1997. He still serves as a visiting professor for the University of Alabama's School of Law.