Pastors ask Bush to withdraw Pryor nomination

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — A group of supporters of ousted Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore asked President Bush Jan. 23 to withdraw a nominee for a federal judgeship because of his role in Moore’s removal.

The group was led by Frank Raddish of the Washington-based Capitol Hill Independent Baptist Ministries. In a press conference on the steps of the Alabama Capitol, Raddish and the other pastors asked for the state’s congressional delegation to withdraw their support for Alabama Attorney General Bill Pryor for appointment to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. A group of Alabama pastors joined Raddish in asking that Bush withdraw Pryor’s name.

Pryor supported Moore early in his battle to display the Ten Commandments, but disagreed with Moore’s decision to disobey the court order to remove them from the state Judicial Building. Pryor incurred further wrath from Moore supporters when he acted as the prosecutor in the trial before a special state judicial-ethics court that ended in Moore’s ouster.