Alabama Appellate Courts
Voter Guide 2010
Nonpartisan information about the Alabama Courts of Appeal and the
candidates running in those elections in 2010.


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Michael F. "Mike" Bolin
Republican Party Candidate for
Associate Justice,
Alabama Supreme Court, Place 2

General Election
November 2, 2010

Candidate Responses to Voter Guide Questions

Candidates were asked to provide answers to seven fundamental, nonpartisan questions for this voter guide. Candidates were asked not to make comparisons with any other candidate. Candidates were advised that their answers would be limited to 250 words per question. Each candidate's answers are reprinted verbatim here up to that word limit.


1.  How have your training, professional experience, and interests prepared you to serve on the Alabama Supreme Court?
 Prior to being elected to the Alabama Supreme Court, I served for sixteen years as the Jefferson County Probate judge. Before that, I practiced law for sixteen years in Birmingham. As an attorney, I tried cases in each level of our state’s court system. As a probate judge, I handled a wide variety of jurisdictional matters. When I began serving on the Alabama Supreme Court five and half years ago I inherited a large backlog but I am now completely current.
2. What do you consider to be the three most important attributes of a judge?
 1. Honesty and integrity
2. Fairness to all litigants and counsel
3. Character
3. What is your judicial philosophy?
 I have a conservative judicial philosophy and by that, I mean that I strive to apply the law as it is written to each case before the Court. A judge is to interpret the law as it is, not how he or she would like it to be. This is sometimes referred to as a strict constructionist jurisprudence. Our system of government relies on the separation of powers doctrine. Because the judiciary is separate from the executive and legislative branches of government it should have no agenda and and refrain from the type of duties prescribed to the other branches of government such as creating or re-writing laws.
4. How do you define “judicial independence,” and how important is it to our judicial system?
 Judicial independence is of supreme importance to our court system. The rule of law requires that the courts be independent from political pressures and the ebb and flow of public opinion. Judicial independence means having no allegiance to anyone or any groups after election. I.e. no friends in the courtroom. Judges must be able to rule strictly in the law no matter who has a case before their court.
5. What is the greatest area of need in the Alabama justice system, and how should the Alabama Supreme Court respond, if at all?
 The greatest area of need is equal access to justice, whether criminal or civil, to all who come into the justice system. It really is a legislative/executive area for remedy, but the Supreme Court did create a IOLTA law to create a fund for indigent litigants.
6. What part, if any, should public opinion play in the decision of a judge?
 None. A judge’s duty is to interpret the law as it is written and apply the law to the facts of each case that comes before a court.
7. In a case before the Court, how should a judge handle a conflict between his/her personal beliefs and the law?
 Judges should follow the law even when they do not like the outcome. Judges should not legislate their personal beliefs from the bench. Personal beliefs come with each individual and make up who we are. It is good to have them in mind, and mine are conservative, but they are irrelevant to the written rule of law. If the law is in conflict with personal beliefs, the law must win.