Bill Baxley

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Bill Baxley
Jim Folsom, Jr.
41st Attorney General of Alabama
In office
January 18, 1971 – January 15, 1979
GovernorGeorge Wallace
Preceded byMacDonald Gallion
Succeeded byCharles Graddick
District Attorney Houston County
In office
1969–1971
Personal details
Born
William Joseph Baxley II

(1941-06-27) June 27, 1941 (age 82)
Democratic
Spouses
​
​
(m. 1974; div. 1987)​
Marie Prat
​
(m. 1990)​
Children5
ResidenceBirmingham, Alabama
Military service
AllegianceUnited States
Branch/serviceUnited States Army
Alabama Army National Guard
Years of service1962–2001
RankColonel

William Joseph Baxley II (born June 27, 1941), is an American Democratic politician and attorney from Dothan, Alabama.

In 1964, Baxley graduated from the

U.S. District Judge
.

Baxley reopened the cold case of the 1963 16th Street Baptist Church bombing. In a letter, the Ku Klux Klan threatened him, comparing him to John F. Kennedy, and called him an "honorary nigger." Baxley responded, on official state letterhead: "My response to your letter of February 19, 1976, is—kiss my ass."[1][2][3]

Church bombing case

As Alabama Attorney General, Baxley became known in 1977 for his successful prosecution of

Robert Chambliss, a member of a splinter group of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK), in the cold case of the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing in Birmingham on Sunday, September 15, 1963. The dynamite blast, which occurred during the time of nonviolent demonstrations in the Birmingham campaign for integration and voting rights – led by Martin Luther King Jr., James Bevel, Fred Shuttlesworth
and others – resulted in the deaths of four young girls and injuries of 14 to 22 others.

In 1968, the FBI formally closed their investigation into the bombing without filing charges against any of their named suspects. The files were sealed by order of J. Edgar Hoover. When Baxley reopened the dormant investigation shortly after being elected in 1971,[4] he told one interviewer that "There are some people in Jefferson County who ought to be pretty nervous right now",[citation needed] and later told a Birmingham radio station that the list of suspects had been narrowed down, stating "We know who did it."[citation needed]

Baxley confirmed that he had talked to

FBI paid informant and agent provocateur within the KKK. Baxley said that Rowe had been cooperative, but that "we were working on this thing long before that. We had a lot of stuff already. Rowe was just another person we interviewed."[citation needed
]

Baxley succeeded in gaining a guilty verdict by the jury in Chambliss's trial. The families of the four girls who were killed felt that some justice had been achieved. In the early 21st century, when two more suspected conspirators were tried, Baxley was dismayed to learn that the FBI had secretly obtained audio tapes in which defendants had implicated themselves, which had never been offered to him for his own prosecution.[4]

Runs for governor

In 1978, Baxley, then the sitting attorney general, ran to succeed the term-limited

Shug Jordan
.

In 1986, the Democratic primary for the gubernatorial race resulted in then Attorney General

Alabama Supreme Court
. It ruled that Graddick had violated primary regulations by encouraging Republicans to "cross over" and vote as Democrats. The court told the Democratic Party to hold another election, or to affirm Baxley as the nominee. The party confirmed Baxley as its candidate.

Although there had nominally been a ban on crossover voting for years, it had never previously been enforced since Alabama was still a one-party state. Alabama voters were thus used to a de facto open primary system, and protested by throwing their support to

Reconstruction
. The demographics of the party loyalists had switched over the decades. Conservative whites had begun gradually moving to the Republican Party after years of splitting their tickets, while African Americans supported Democratic Party candidates following passage of civil rights legislation in the 1960s that enforced their constitutional rights.

Personal life

In 1962, Baxley joined in the

JAG Corps
.

In 1974, Baxley married Lucy Mae Bruner (1937–2016). She also was politically active, and was elected as Alabama lieutenant governor in 2002, serving from 2003 to 2007. They had divorced in 1987.[5] Baxley was a strong supporter of his ex-wife's campaign.

In 1990, Baxley married Marie (Prat) Baxley, a reporter who had covered his campaign.[5][6][7]

In 1979, Baxley founded the firm Baxley, Dillard Trial Counsel (by 2006 was Baxley, Dillard, Dauphin, McKnight & Barclift),[8] in Birmingham. He primarily represented large business corporations, yet also continued to represent individuals of modest means. Those efforts earned him the distinction of being selected as a fellow in the International Academy of Trial Lawyers.[citation needed]

References

  1. ^ "Kiss my ass". Letters of Note. 26 November 2012. Retrieved 2012-11-26. (image of Baxley's actual letter)
  2. ISBN 978-0-8173-0520-8
    .
  3. ISBN 978-0-8131-0887-2
    .
  4. ^ a b c Randall, Kate (2001-05-05). "Former Klansman convicted in deadly 1963 bombing of Birmingham, Alabama church". World Socialist Web Site. Retrieved 2020-08-09.
  5. ^
    ISBN 978-1-60306-117-9
    .
  6. ISBN 978-0-8203-3049-5
    .
  7. ISBN 978-0-8173-5268-4
    .
  8. ^ "Baxley, Dillard, Dauphin, McKnight & Barclift". Archived from the original on 2006-08-24. Retrieved 2020-09-01.

External links

Party political offices
Preceded by Democratic nominee for Attorney General of Alabama
1970, 1974 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
Lieutenant Governor of Alabama

1982 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
Governor of Alabama
1986
 Succeeded by
Legal offices
Preceded by Attorney General of Alabama
1971–1979 		Succeeded by
Charles A. Graddick
Political offices
Preceded by Lieutenant Governor of Alabama
1983–1987 		Succeeded by
Jim Folsom, Jr.
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