Judge will Rule if Gov. Bob Riley's Illegal Republican Tactics will hold

Judge to rule on A&M's re-appointed trustees
Lawsuit filed to keep the Senate reject appointees from illegally serving.

MONTGOMERY - A judge will decide Thursday whether four people reappointed to the Alabama A&M board of trustees by Gov. Bob Riley can participate in board meeting on Friday.
Circuit Judge William Shashy has scheduled a hearing in Montgomery at 9 a.m. to hear a request for a temporary restraining order that would block the four from taking part in the meeting.

The lawsuit, filed by a former A&M trustee, also seeks a permanent injunction that would keep Riley's four reappointments from serving in the future.

Unless the judge blocks the appointments, the suit said Riley's "reappointments would strip the (Alabama) Senate of its veto power over the governor's appointments. " Jeff Emerson, Riley's chief spokesman, said the governor's office had not had an opportunity to fully review the suit. But he added, "We're confident the governor's appointments are 100 percent legal."

The request for the order was filed Tuesday by Montgomery attorney William Massey, a former A&M board member, on behalf of Robert T. Hughes of Florence, a former A&M trustee, and David Marzette of Birmingham, the financial secretary of A&M's National Alumni Association.

Defendants in the case include the four trustees, David Slyman Jr. of Huntsville; Leroy C. Richie of Birmingham, Mich.; Mayor Edward E. May of Bessemer; the Rev. Willie Clyde McNeil of Chatom; and Riley.

The governor on June 9 reappointed the four men after the Senate Confirmations Committee during the regular legislative session in early May voted 8-0 to reject their nominations.

Massey said he based his suit on state law and a 1991 attorney general's opinion covering a similar situation at Alabama State University.

"The essence of it is that once a nominee is rejected by the Senate, they cannot be reappointed as a trustee in a subsequent session," he said.

Massey was appointed to a six-year term on the board by former Gov. Fob James in the 1980s, and later was appointed by the late Gov. George C.

Wallace to an unexpired term in the 1990s. He said he served about four years before resigning.

SOURCE: Writeen by By BOB Lowry,submitted to A&MFamily List by Alumni Association President.