It's the end of an era at the Alabama Supreme Court.
After 20 years of difference-making service on the Alabama Supreme Court, Chief Justice Tom Parker is retiring. He has passed the age of 70 and thus was constitutionally barred from running again for any court position. His long judicial career is ending on January 20.
A retirement observance for Parker will be held on Tuesday, January 14, at 2 p.m. in the Alabama Judicial Building in Montgomery, followed by a reception. It is an invitation-only event.
Parker was first elected to the Alabama Supreme Court in 2004, reelected in 2010 and 2016, and elected Chief Justice in 2018.
Parker had previously served as the deputy administrative director of courts and as general counsel for the Alabama court system, advising trial court judges. He served as the director of the Alabama Judicial College, providing training for new judges and continuing legal education for all trial judges in Alabama.
Chief Justice Parker graduated cum laude from Dartmouth College and later earned his Juris Doctorate from Vanderbilt University School of Law. He was awarded a Rotary International Fellowship to study law at the University of São Paulo School of Law in Brazil, where he was the first foreign student in Brazil's most prestigious law school.
Parker served in the Alabama Attorney General's Office under then-Attorneys General Jeff Sessions and Bill Pryor. As an assistant attorney general, he handled death penalty cases, criminal appeals, and constitutional litigation. Previously, he was a partner in Parker & Kotouc, P.C., a Montgomery law firm that handled high-profile constitutional cases.
Parker leaves behind a legacy of principles — constitutionalist, conservative, pro-life, limited government, family values and Biblical values. He also leaves behind a very tangible manifestation of those principles. He is loaning his unusual collection of books and items from precedent-setting jurist William Blackstone.
Parker's historical Blackstone volumes and bust have been housed in the chief justice's outer office suite. In January 2025, Parker's term of office ends, and new Chief Justice Sarah Stewart takes over. Arrangements were made for the valuable Blackstone volumes and bust to be placed on loan in the Alabama Supreme Court Law Library, which is in the same building, the Judicial Building. The precious items won't have to move far this time. They have moved a great distance over a quarter of a millennium.
The Supreme Court law library has refinished an appropriate showcase.
If you saw these books and hadn't read this article, you might think they are just a bunch of old books. That's right, very old. They are also a pillar of the foundation for the rule of law and the United States Constitution. They were around and well-read at the time of the writing of the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution, and the state constitutions.
There are multiple historic sets from the period of America's founding. All are Sir William Blackstone's "Commentaries on the Laws of England." Parker has personally collected them. That's another long, interesting story.
One set is a "mixed first edition." Blackstone's books were originally printed in 1765, 1766, 1767 and 1769. Parker's set is from different years of the 1760s printing runs.
Overlooking the law books is a valued bust of the head of Sir William Blackstone, the English jurist who authored the Commentaries. The artist was Felix de Weldon, who later made the Iwo Jima statue near Arlington National Cemetery. Parker, an ardent student of Blackstone, acquired the bust of Blackstone at auction.
Blackstone is considered a pillar of English and American law. Though he lived from 1723 to 1780, his influence continues today.
Blackstone's commentaries influenced American founders Alexander Hamilton, John Marshall, John Jay, John Adams and, later, Abraham Lincoln. To this day, the Commentaries are cited in court decisions, including those from the Alabama and U.S. Supreme Courts.
The influence of Blackstone's Commentaries on the development of American law cannot be overstated.
English legal professor William Searle Holdsworth expressed it this way: "If the Commentaries had not been written when they were written, I think it very doubtful that the United States and other English-speaking countries would have so universally adopted the common law."
Blackstone was an English judge and jurist, but his philosophy and treatises were more popular in early America than in England.
Parker bought his first set at auction in New York City. Before he purchased it, the Bar Association of New York had owned it. However, it had at least one very famous owner—Martin Van Buren, the eighth President of the United States.
Parker draws parallels between Blackstone's words and those in the Declaration of Independence. He shows how Blackstone's influence can be seen in a number of legal topics, including the right to petition, taxation and the king's protection of his subjects.
"I bought this … because of the impact it had on our country," Parker said.
Parker then connected the dots of all the previous owners of the books and their role in shaping the foundations of the country. He also discussed the books' early popularity, which was reflected in their 1,400 pre-orders. John Adams was at the top of the alphabetical list.
Parker's mixed first edition set was first owned by Edmund Rush Wegg, the attorney general of British West Florida. The territory spanned from roughly Apalachicola to the Mississippi River and north to near Wetumpka. It includes the state capital of Montgomery.
"This set of books originated in Alabama," Parker points out. "Can you believe the providence of God that he would allow me to return them to Alabama where it originated?"
As proof of how early statesmen were influenced by Blackstone, Parker cited a book about Wegg's protest of the Stamp Act. The book, by Kathleen DuVal, claims Wegg said Parliament had no right to levy taxes on the colonies without their consent and charged no man can be bound to any government unless his own consent is conveyed by either himself or a representative.
The second owner of the set was William Wylly, who once served as attorney general of the Bahamas. He may be best known, however, as an abolitionist after he began a correspondence with William Wilberforce, another abolitionist and philanthropist. Wilberforce's mentor was John Newton, author of the beloved Christian song "Amazing Grace."
The books were next owned by William Jones, who fought with George Washington at the Battle of Trenton. Jones was imprisoned on a British prison ship but was ultimately traded for a British officer. Jones later became the secretary of the Navy under James Madison. Van Buren would become the next owner of the books.
Another of Parker's sets was published in 1783 and was first owned by John Lansing Jr., a delegate to the 6th Continental Congress, speaker of the New York Assembly, and a delegate at the 1787 Constitutional Convention.
Lansing and another delegate, Robert Yates, walked out of the Constitutional Convention because they thought the document infringed on individual liberties and the sovereignty of the states.
Parker also has displayed a 1771 Blackstone owned by James Madison, the father of the U.S. Constitution in 1787 and another set owned by John Adams, founding father and second president.
Despite his affection for these book sets, Parker said he reads Blackstone's words from a modern printing to avoid damaging the originals.
Parker gives presentations about Blackstone and the books, including a show and tell, to groups. On June 22, he gave an hour-long presentation to new law clerks and interns at the Alabama Supreme Court.
"Blackstone was the greatest exponent of the common law that we have ever had... To this, we owe his immortal 'Commentaries on the Laws of England.' In four books. They were the product of his lectures over a period of twelve years. The work was at once acclaimed as a classic by lawyers and by men of letters. It has remained a classic ever since. I have an early edition in my library. I refer to it constantly when I want to know what the law was in his day. I am always amazed at the breadth of his knowledge, the research which he did, the style of his prose, and his statement of principles. It is the greatest law book that we have ever had." — Lord Denning
Jim' Zig' Zeigler writes about Alabama's people, places, events, groups and prominent deaths. He is a former Alabama Public Service Commissioner and State Auditor. You can reach him for comments at ZeiglerElderCare@yahoo.com.
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