Political Quotes

“I want to pay tribute and offer my congratulations to my dear friend Judge William C. Sullivan on his new-found lifestyle--retirement. Before starting his legal career in 1951, and becoming a circuit judge for Talledega County, Bill served in the U.S. Navy; played on a semi-pro baseball league; and was mayor of Lincoln, AL. When recalling my many memories of Judge Sullivan, I remember a rather humorous occasion which occurred in the summer of 1954. A police chief came to a baseball game in which Sullivan was a player only to tell him a gubernatorial candidate, ``Big Jim'' Folsom, wanted to see him. William sent word back to Jim that he would have to wait until the end of the game before he would break loose. When the two met, Bill of course in his soiled uniform, Big Jim was in disbelief--he even told Bill Sullivan he did not look like a mayor. Sullivan simply smiled and reminded Big Jim he was only a candidate, and not a Governor. The two later reunited when Big Jim swore Bill in as a judge 4 years later. Perhaps Judge Sullivan is most known for a 1962 civil rights case he presided over in which the late Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall was an acting attorney. Bill and I share one belief--we both agreed the transition from attorney to judge was difficult because once we became judges, we simply acted as referees. Thus, we could not ``slug it out'' in court with other attorneys. Judge Sullivan obviously knew his stuff.…”