William H. Pryor, Jr.

From Freepedia

William Holcombe Pryor, Jr. was born on April 26, 1962) and is a American politician, lawyer, and jurist. He was the former attorney general of the State of Alabama from 1997 to 2004. He presently serves as a federal appeals court judge on the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Born in Mobile, Alabama and raised a devout Roman Catholic, Pryor earned his B.A. from Northeast Louisiana University in 1984 and his J.D. from Tulane University School of Law in 1987, where he served as editor in chief of the Tulane Law Review. Pryor served as a law clerk to Judge John Minor Wisdom of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit from 1987 to 1988. Pryor worked as a private attorney from 1988-95, serving as adjunct professor at the Cumberland School of Law at Samford University from 1989-95. From 1995-97, he served as Alabama deputy attorney general and became Alabama attorney general in 1997. He was, at that time, the youngest state attorney general in the United States.

Pryor received national attention in 2003 when he called for the removal of Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore, who had disobeyed a federal court order to remove a Ten Commandments monument from the Alabama Judicial Building. Pryor said that although he agreed with the propriety of displaying the Ten Commandments in a courthouse, he was was bound to follow the court order and uphold the rule of law. Pryor personally prosecuted Moore for violations of the Canons of Judicial Ethics, and the Alabama Court of the Judiciary unanimously removed Moore from office.

Pryor was nominated by President Bush on April 9, 2003 to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. After his confirmation stalled in the Senate, he was installed as judge via recess appointment on February 20, 2004 during the Congress's recess period, bypassing the U.S. Senate confirmation process. Pryor resigned as attorney general that same day and took his judicial oath for a term lasting until the end of 2005 when the next Congressional session begins.

Many Democrats criticized him for his comments regarding homosexuality and abortion, as well as for what they described as his extreme right-wing views and reputation as a Conservative ideological warrior who lacked the temperament to avoid being an "activist" judge. Pryor's nomination was prevented from being put to a vote in the U.S. Senate by Democrats who had filibustered his nomination. On June 9, 2005, he was confirmed to the Eleventh Circuit by a 53-45 Senate vote. He received his commission on June 10, 2005 and on June 20, 2005, he was sworn in to his new lifetime judicial position at the age of 43.

Pryor is married to Kristan Wilson Pryor, and the couple has two daughters, Caroline and Victoria Pryor.