Which federal judge is helping the Episcopal Church plot legal strategy?
November 26, 2006

A federal judge is helping the Episcopal Church plot legal strategy as it braces for the fallout from a possible schism, according to recent news reports. Conservatives, who fear they're being targeted by the church's liberal leadership, want to know which judge is working against them -- and why.

The Associated Press and the Episcopal News Service only say that it's a judge with the 11th circuit court of appeals. (The 11th circuit includes Georgia, Alabama and Florida.) But the list of 11th circuit court judges is short. Assuming the judge is an Episcopalian, it shouldn't be hard to figure out which one has joined the Episcopal Church's legal team.

The active judges are the Hon.:
J.L. Edmondson (chief judge)
Gerald Bard Tjoflat
R. Lanier Anderson
Stanley F. Birch, Jr.
Joel F. Dubina
Susan H. Black
Ed Carnes
Rosemary Barkett
Frank M. Hull
Stanley Marcus
Charles R. Wilson
William H. Pryor Jr.

Senior judges (mostly in their 80s), include John C. Godbold, Paul H. Roney, James C. Hill, Peter T. Fay, Phyllis A. Kravitch and Emmett Ripley Cox.

Under the Code of Conduct for U.S. Judges: "A judge should regulate extra-judicial activities to minimize the risk of conflict with judicial duties." Judges must also "avoid impropriety and the appearance of impropriety in all activities." Undoubtedly, if a case came up involving the Episcopal Church, a judge who had offered legal advice would have to recuse himself or herself.

link (Hat tip to Connecticut Six)

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