By BRAD GASKINS / Staff Writer

COLUMBIANA – Alabama Supreme Court Justice Jim Main delivered the keynote speech Thursday afternoon at the South Shelby Chamber of Commerce’s monthly lunch meeting.

Judge Michael Joiner and Judge Liles Burke of the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals also attended the event at Columbiana United Methodist Church.

Main praised Joiner and Burke throughout his speech.

Main was appointed to the state Supreme Court from the Court of Criminal Appeals in January. Joiner was appointed to succeed Main in February. Burke also was appointed to the Court of Criminal Appeals in February.

Main swore Joiner in to the new position and jokingly compared it to a marriage ceremony.

“I’ve never married anybody as a judge,” Main said. “If you marry somebody, it’s supposed to stick. I will be most upset if I swore him in and ya’ll can’t get him elected.”

Main joked that “it would be terrible if I’m on the Supreme Court and mad at ya’ll for not getting him elected.”

Main said Burke is “hard working” and “smart as a whip.”

“He’s a rising star in the judiciary,” Main said of Burke. “I’m glad he’s running (in the upcoming election) for his seat and not against me. I would be in trouble.”

The Court of Criminal Appeals hears 2,200 cases a year from all 67 counties. The Court has “the second highest caseload of any appellate court in the nation,” Burke said, adding that the court rarely has to rule on appeals from Shelby County.

“There’s a reason that Shelby County has almost no appeals to Montgomery,” Burke said. “It’s because your local judges are fair, patient guys who are following the law.”

NEW MEMBERS:

The South Shelby Chamber acknowledged several new member businesses, including Area 41 Pizza, PaPaw’s Restaurant, Designer Awards, Mt. Laurel Dentistry, Jacob’s Ladder & Life House Church, Pricilla Perry-Silpade Jewelry and Alliance CPA.