Just a few days before Alabamans hit the polls in the 2017 Republican Senate Primary, "establishment"–backed candidate Luther Strange dropped a bombshell on former Judge Roy Moore, over a Supreme Court of Alabama case that Moore oversaw as a judge. The ad is eerily similar to the 30-second Willie Horton attack ads that the George H.W. Bush campaign ran against Democrat Michael Dukakis in 1988 – except it doesn't seem to be nearly as crippling.
The ad centers around a case involving 17-year-old African American daycare worker, Eric Lamont Higdon who was convicted on two accounts child sodomy in 2015. Six other convictions were struck down, "by a liberal court" according to the ad. All of the accusations were brought by parents of children who attended the daycare, and Higdon's lawyer accused the parents of lying on the stand, after Higdon's lawyer argued that the child could not identify Higdon in the courtroom during the trial.
"Unbelievably," the ad continues, "Roy Moore was the only 'no' vote in the 8 to 1 decision favoring Big Luther's appeal. Moore stated he saw no threat of serious physical injury to the child victim. Roy Moore – too risky for us." What the ad leaves out though, is that Moore made his decision on Constitutional grounds, not criminal leniency. Strange – who was attorney general at the time – sought to reinstate a forcible compulsion count that would try Higdon as an adult, which made it easier to prosecute the child-sex case.
Moore dissented, and argued that the "court has no right or authority to make a new law to govern conduct between minors the legislature obviously chose not to address."
Moore's argument was not enough to convince the rest of the court, and Higdon was sentenced to 23 years in prison.
We will see if Moore's case is more persuasive to Alabama voters, later today.
The ad centers around a case involving 17-year-old African American daycare worker, Eric Lamont Higdon who was convicted on two accounts child sodomy in 2015. Six other convictions were struck down, "by a liberal court" according to the ad. All of the accusations were brought by parents of children who attended the daycare, and Higdon's lawyer accused the parents of lying on the stand, after Higdon's lawyer argued that the child could not identify Higdon in the courtroom during the trial.
"Unbelievably," the ad continues, "Roy Moore was the only 'no' vote in the 8 to 1 decision favoring Big Luther's appeal. Moore stated he saw no threat of serious physical injury to the child victim. Roy Moore – too risky for us." What the ad leaves out though, is that Moore made his decision on Constitutional grounds, not criminal leniency. Strange – who was attorney general at the time – sought to reinstate a forcible compulsion count that would try Higdon as an adult, which made it easier to prosecute the child-sex case.
Moore dissented, and argued that the "court has no right or authority to make a new law to govern conduct between minors the legislature obviously chose not to address."
Moore's argument was not enough to convince the rest of the court, and Higdon was sentenced to 23 years in prison.
We will see if Moore's case is more persuasive to Alabama voters, later today.