Democrat Judge To Decide Court’s Jurisdiction in Residency Suit

The days before the required August 26the certification of party nominees for the November General Election are flying off the calendar. Still, the question of Republican gubernatorial candidate Tommy Tuberville's eligibility is in legal limbo.

Montgomery County Circuit Court Judge Brooke Reid is weighing her decision after today's nearly two-and-a-half-hour hearing. At issue is Tuberville's motion to dismiss a lawsuit alleging he is not in compliance with Alabama's seven-year residency requirement to be governor. Tuberville claims he is, but the Montgomery Court lacks jurisdiction.

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The Democrat judge and University of Alabama graduate has two options for her decision:

• Option 1: Agree with Senator Tuberville that her court does not have jurisdiction in the case.
• Option 2: Rule in favor of the plaintiffs that her court does have jurisdiction, clearing the way for the lawsuit to move forward.

Whichever way Judge Reid rules her decision will probably not be the last. That opinion will most likely rest with the Republican dominated Alabama Supreme Court.

Attorneys for Alabama's Senior U.S. Senator and the two plaintiffs in the lawsuit presented their claims in Reid's court this afternoon.

“Our position is very simple: follow the constitution of Alabama. Number 2, let the people decide. If they don’t think that Senator Tuberville meets the qualifications, they’ll decide that. And number 3, follow the rule of law,” Tuberville's attorney Jo Espy told the judge.

Tuberville attorney Bert Jordan called the matter “fundamentally non-judicial” saying the Constitution and state statutes about election contests intentionally exclude the judiciary.

The attorney for plaintiffs Brooke Lynn Dorgan and Justin LeBlanc, Barry Ragsdale, argued the case should not be dismissed and that the courts should rule on constitutional questions.

“We believe the courts and the judiciary are who should pass on whether the constitution has been violated, and again, like I said to the judge, we don’t vote on whether people get constitutional rights,” Ragsdale said.

Tuberville has won two residency challenges in rulings by the State Republican Executive Committee. He also saw a suit similar to the one being argued today being thrown out by a Covington County Circuit Court on grounds that it lacked jurisdiction.

Secretary of State Wes Allen was originally a defendant in the lawsuit, but the judge dismissed him with approval of plaintiffs' attorneys on Sunday.