A major contributor to this article appears to have a close connection with its subject.(October 2023) |
The Honorable William B. Sellers | |
---|---|
Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of Alabama | |
Assumed office May 25, 2017 | |
Appointed by | Kay Ivey |
Preceded by | Lyn Stuart |
Personal details | |
Born | William Burwell Sellers [1] February 10,1963 [2] Montgomery,Alabama [3] |
Political party | Republican |
Spouse | Lee Grant |
Children | 3 |
Education | Hillsdale College (BA) University of Alabama (JD) New York University (LLM) |
William Burwell Sellers (born February 10,1963) is an American lawyer who has served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of Alabama. [4]
Sellers was born and raised in Montgomery,Alabama. [5] He completed a Bachelor of Arts degree at Hillsdale College in Hillsdale,Michigan in 1985,with majors in history and political economy. [6] He then completed a Juris Doctor degree at the University of Alabama School of Law in 1988,and a Master of Laws degree in Taxation at New York University in 1989. [4]
Sellers was in private practice in Montgomery,Alabama from 1989 to 2017,specializing in tax law and litigation. [4] He was a partner with the prominent Montgomery law firm Balch &Bingham,where his work mainly involved litigation with the Internal Revenue Service [7] and the Alabama Department of Revenue. [8] [5] He has been active in many community organizations,including the Rotary Club,United Way,and the YMCA and received the President's Award for service in 2012 from the Alabama Bar Association. [4]
In 2016,Sellers was a member of the electoral college, [9] his 4th time to serve as a presidential elector from Alabama.
Governor Kay Ivey appointed Sellers as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of Alabama in May 2017,to replace Justice Lyn Stuart,who had been elevated to chief justice. [4] [10] Sellers previously served as chair of Ivey's successful campaigns for Lieutenant Governor of Alabama in 2010 and 2014. [11]
Sellers ran for a full term in 2018 and was unopposed. [6] [12] Sellers's campaign was endorsed by the Business Council of Alabama,Alabama Society of CPAs,the Alabama Farmers Federation,The Alabama New South Coalition and the Alabama Civil Justice Reform Committee. [12] His current term expires in 2025.
On January 16,2023,Sellers administered the oath of office to Governor Kay Ivey. [13]
On October 16,2023,Sellers qualified to run for re-election for Associate Justice - Place 3. [14] When the deadline for qualifying ended,Justice Sellers had no opposition in either the Republican primary or general election. [15]
In the Alabama Supreme Court's ruling regarding frozen embryos,Sellers wrote a dissenting opinion. [16]
The Supreme Court of Alabama is the highest court in the state of Alabama. The court consists of a chief justice and eight associate justices. Each justice is elected in partisan elections for staggered six-year terms. The Supreme Court is housed in the Heflin-Torbert Judicial Building in downtown Montgomery,Alabama.
The lieutenant governor of Alabama is the president of the Alabama Senate,elected to serve a four-year term. The office was created in 1868,abolished in 1875,and recreated in 1901. According to the current constitution,should the governor be out of the state for more than 20 days,the lieutenant governor becomes acting governor,and if the governor dies,resigns or is removed from office,the lieutenant governor ascends to the governorship. Earlier constitutions said the powers of the governor devolved upon the successor,rather than them necessarily becoming governor,but the official listing includes these as full governors. The governor and lieutenant governor are not elected on the same ticket.
The Alabama Republican Party is the state affiliate of the Republican Party in Alabama. It is the dominant political party in Alabama. The state party is governed by the Alabama Republican Executive Committee. The committee usually meets twice a year. As of the February 23,2019 meeting in Birmingham,the committee is composed of 463 members. Most of the committee's members are elected in district elections across Alabama. The district members are elected in the Republican Primary once every four years,with the most recent election for the committee having been on June 5,2018. The new committee takes office following the general election in November 2018. In addition,all 67 county GOP chairmen have automatic seats as voting members. The state chairman can appoint 10 members. Each county committee can appoint bonus members based on a formula that theoretically could add 312 seats,although that formula currently calls for only about 50 seats.
Ronald D. Sparks is an American politician from the state of Alabama. He is the former Commissioner of Agriculture and Industries. Sparks is a member of the Democratic party,and was the Democratic candidate for Governor of Alabama in the state's 2010 gubernatorial election.
Kay Ellen Ivey is an American politician who is the 54th governor of Alabama,serving since 2017. Originally a conservative Southern Democrat,Ivey became a member of the Republican Party in 2002. She was the 38th Alabama state treasurer from 2003 to 2011 and the 30th lieutenant governor of Alabama from 2011 to 2017.
Lesbian,gay,bisexual,and transgender (LGBT) individuals in the U.S. state of Alabama have federal protections,but still face legal challenges and discrimination on the state level that is not experienced by non-LGBT residents. LGBT rights in Alabama—a Republican Party stronghold located in both the Deep South and greater Bible Belt—are severely limited in comparison to other states. As one of the most socially conservative states in the U.S.,Alabama is one of the only two states along with neighboring Mississippi where opposition to same-sex marriage outnumbers support.
Craig F. Stowers was an American lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice,and the 18th chief justice,of the Alaska Supreme Court. He was appointed by Governor Sean Parnell in 2009 as an associate justice to replace retiring Justice Robert Eastaugh. Stowers was one of seven candidates recommended to the Governor by the Alaska Judicial Council out of a record 25 applicants.
The 2014 Alabama gubernatorial election took place on November 4,2014,to elect the governor of Alabama. Incumbent Governor Robert J. Bentley won a second term over Democrat Parker Griffith. This was the first Alabama gubernatorial race where either Choctaw and/or Conecuh counties voted Republican. This alongside the concurrent Senate race is the last time Jefferson County voted Republican in any statewide election. Bentley did not complete this term;he resigned in April 2017 due to a scandal and was succeeded by fellow Republican Kay Ivey.
James Allen Main is a former associate justice of the Alabama Supreme Court who was initially appointed on January 14,2011,by Governor Bob Riley and elected to a six-year term in November,2012. He did not seek reelection in 2018 and retired from the court in January 2019. Prior to his appointment,he served on the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals.
Jacquelyn L. "Lyn" Stuart is an American jurist and the first Republican woman Chief Justice of Alabama and the second woman to hold the office. She was first appointed by Alabama Governor Kay Ivey as "acting" Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Alabama on May 6,2016,when her predecessor,Roy Moore,was suspended from office. At the time of her initial appointment,she had been an associate justice of the Alabama Supreme Court since 2001,which was the longest tenure for any Republican in the Court's history. She had been thrice elected as an associate justice in 2000,2006,and 2012.
Danny Darnell Carr is the District Attorney of Jefferson County,Alabama,serving since November 27,2018. Carr previously served as the county's interim district attorney in 2017. He is the first African-American District Attorney in the Birmingham division of the Jefferson County,Alabama District Attorney’s office.
Jim Zeigler is an American lawyer and politician who served as state auditor of Alabama from 2015 to 2023. Before becoming state auditor,he served on the Alabama Public Service Commission from 1974 to 1978.
The 2018 Alabama gubernatorial election took place on November 6,2018,to elect the governor of Alabama. Incumbent Governor Kay Ivey (R),who took office on April 10,2017 upon the resignation of Robert Bentley (R) ran for election to a full term and won over Tuscaloosa mayor Walt Maddox. Ivey was sworn in for her first full term on January 14,2019. This was the first time since 1966 that a woman was elected Governor of Alabama.
Steve Marshall is an American lawyer serving as the 48th attorney general of Alabama. He was appointed in February 2017 by Governor Robert J. Bentley to fill the vacancy created by previous attorney general Luther Strange's appointment to the United States Senate. He was elected to a full term in 2018,and was re-elected in 2022. He previously served as district attorney in Marshall County for 16 years.
The Alabama Memorial Preservation Act of 2017 is an act of law in the U.S. state of Alabama which requires local governments to obtain state permission before moving or renaming historically significant buildings and monuments that date back 40 years or longer.
Gregory Thomas D'Auria is an American lawyer and judge who has served as an associate justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court since 2017. He previously was Solicitor General of Connecticut.
Abortion in Alabama is illegal. Historically,Alabama's abortion laws have evolved from strict regulations in the late 19th and early 20th centuries to a period of liberalization following the landmark 1973 Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade,which legalized abortion nationwide. However,Alabama has consistently enacted legislation aimed at restricting access to abortion.
Jean Williams Brown was a justice of the Supreme Court of Alabama from 1999 to 2005.
Balch &Bingham LLP is a United States law firm based in Birmingham,Alabama.