Trump Taps Five Conservatives for Federal Benches in Alabama, Mississippi

President Donald Trump has quietly selected five conservative jurists for lifetime seats on federal trial courts in Alabama and Mississippi, according to materials filed with the Senate Judiciary Committee. The White House has not issued a formal announcement, but questionnaires submitted to the committee on Aug. 6 reveal the candidates: Alabama Solicitor General Edmund LaCour and commercial litigator Harold “Hal” Mooty for the Northern District of Alabama; Alabama Supreme Court Justice Bill Lewis for the Middle District of Alabama; and Mississippi Supreme Court Justices James Maxwell and Robert Chamberlin for the Northern District of Mississippi. The nominations surfaced while the Senate is in recess until September, an unusual timing that nonetheless allows staff reviews to begin. LaCour, whose previous nomination stalled in 2020 when Alabama had a Democratic senator, now faces a smoother path with both of the state’s senators being Republicans. Maxwell and Chamberlin are known for conservative rulings on issues ranging from voting rights to transgender name changes. Including these selections, Trump has named 21 candidates for the federal judiciary since beginning his second term, after appointing 234 judges during his first term and shifting the courts rightward. The Senate Judiciary Committee will schedule confirmation hearings once lawmakers return, and each nominee will still require the customary “blue slips” from their home-state senators before advancing to the floor.