Today the Senate will vote on the confirmation of William H. Pryor, Jr. to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. As an article yesterday from the Knight Ridder Newspapers points out: “What distinguishes Pryor from Bush's other controversial judicial nominees is his place at the center of a political clash over the role of religion and faith in federal courts.” Liberal groups point to statements Pryor has made about restoring the place of Christianity in America. On the other hand, conservatives object to Pryor’s action as Alabama Attorney General in enforcing court orders against then-Chief Justice Roy Moore who attempted to place a large 10 commandments monument in the Alabama Supreme Court rotunda.
In fact Pryor already sits on the 11th Circuit temporarily under an unusual recess appointment that President Bush made last year. Since then, he has written at least one First Amendment religion opinion. In December 2004 in Benning v. Georgia, writing for a unanimous panel, he upheld the constitutionality of the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act against attacks under the Establishment Clause, the spending clause and the Tenth Amendment.
