Montgomery Circuit Judge Brook Reid heard from both sides Monday afternoon on whether it is even up to the courts to decide Tommy Tuberville’s eligibility for governor.
Tuberville’s camp argued that it isn’t even a matter for the courts, but for the Republican Party, the voters and then the Legislature.
Counsel for the plaintiffs, two Alabama veterans, argued that theory flies in the face of the separation of powers and that a judge should be weighing a requirement enshrined in the Alabama Constitution.
That’s the basic gist of a hearing that lasted more than two hours and went into the legal weeds citing a wide span of cases which both sides agreed failed to directly address the question at hand, giving Reid limited guidance on how to rule.
It’s not clear how long Reid will take to come to a conclusion—she noted the urgent timing of the case but also reiterated the need to review the arguments and cases cited again before making a final ruling.
Regardless of her decision, the ruling will be immediately appealed to the Alabama Supreme Court for the final word on this relatively novel legal argument.
The merits of the case—namely whether Tuberville has truly resided in Alabama for the past seven years—won’t come under scrutiny unless the Supreme Court rules that the case can move forward in court.
This is a developing story.
