President Trump announces plan to nominate 3 people from Alabama to federal bench

ALABAMA (WHNT) — President Donald Trump has announced plans to nominate three Alabamians as federal judges to courts in Alabama, according to Alabama Senator Tommy Tuberville.

Tuberville’s office announced Tuesday that the three nominees Edmund “Eddie” LaCour, Harold “Hal” Mooty and Bill Lewis were recommended by Tuberville and Alabama’s junior Senator Katie Britt.

Both LaCour and Mooty are being nominated to serve in the U.S. Northern District Court for Alabama.

LaCour is the current Solicitor General of Alabama and a Dothan Native. He is a graduate of Birmingham-Southern College and Yale Law School. Prior to becoming solicitor general, LaCour served as deputy solicitor general after working in private practice in Washington, D.C.

In 2023, LaCour argued on behalf of the State of Alabama in a lawsuit over proposed congressional redistricting. Ultimately, federal judges struck down maps proposed by the Alabama Legislature, ruling that the state was required to create a second majority-black voting district.

Mooty is currently a partner at Bradley Arant Boult Cummings, LLP in Huntsville and is originally from Montgomery. He is a graduate of the University of Alabama, with both his undergraduate and law school degrees.

Lewis is nominated to serve in the U.S. Middle District Court and currently serves as a justice on the Alabama Supreme Court. Prior to his appointment in May, Lewis served as a judge at the Alabama Court of Civil Appeals, where he was appointed in February 2024. Before that, Lewis served as circuit court judge for the 19^th Judicial Circuit in Elmore County, where he was the Circuit’s presiding judge. 

Tuberville celebrated the move.

“The White House knocked it out of the park with these Alabama nominees,” he said. “Ever since President Trump took office, deranged, activist judges have done everything they can to stop President Trump’s agenda. That won’t happen in Alabama under my watch. Each of these Alabama nominees are committed to restoring law and order and ensuring our state remains a safe place for all Alabamians. I am confident that these nominees will uphold the Constitution in every decision and refuse to allow the judicial system to be weaponized for political gain.”  

Britt said the appointments are a win for Alabama.

“As a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, I have worked tirelessly to bring Alabama’s conservative values to the forefront of the committee’s work, especially when it comes to evaluating nominees for the federal judiciary,” she said. “In order to maintain the credibility of the Judiciary, federal judges have a responsibility to faithfully interpret and apply the law in accordance with the Constitution and the laws that Congress has passed rather than seeking to legislate from the bench. I’m strongly supportive of President Trump’s nominees to fill three federal judicial vacancies in the great state of Alabama. I believe they will uphold the rule of law, honor the judicial oath, and keep Alabamians safe. I am confident they will serve our state well, and I look forward to their confirmations.”