And then there were eight

Justice Tom Parker cast the deciding vote last month in a 5-4 Alabama Supreme Court ruling that a 10-cent tobacco tax in several Jefferson County cities was constitutional. Shortly thereafter, the lawyer for the losing side, having noticed that a city attorney for one of the municipalities in question was Parker's first cousin, asked for the case to be reheard.

Parker responded by recusing himself from consideration of the rehearing motion, but not before he criticized the lawyer for what he considered a personal attack: "Such impropriety should not be overlooked or allowed to continue. I will not condone similar actions by other parties that come before this court in the future."