WASHINGTON — Eddie LaCour will be Alabama’s newest federal judge for the Northern District of Alabama after the U.S. Senate voted along party lines to confirm him Wednesday.
LaCour, who has been serving as the solicitor general of Alabama since 2019, will replace Scott Coogler as a U.S. district court judge. Coogler retired from the bench at the beginning of the year. The Senate voted 51-47 to confirm LaCour.
U.S. Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., highlighted how LaCour is admitted to practice in every court of appeals in the United States and the Supreme Court and called his legal acumen “unparalleled.”
“I’m proud to see a fellow native of the Wiregrass serve Alabama and our country on the federal bench,” Britt, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said in a statement. “I’m also grateful to have worked side-by-side with Sen. (Tommy) Tuberville to see three exceptional nominees confirmed as federal judges and to President (Donald) Trump for his support.”
LaCour is Alabama’s third and final federal judge to be confirmed this month after Trump nominated him in August, along with Hal Mooty and Bill Lewis.
Tuberville, R-Ala., praised LaCour’s work as solicitor general in a social media post, saying “he will continue his great work as a federal district court judge.”
LaCour played a key role in arguing Alabama’s federal cases involving transgender treatment for minors and redistricting. In 2023, he argued before the Supreme Court in Allen v. Milligan when the Court rejected the 2021 state legislature-drawn congressional map for diluting Black voters. The Alabama Legislature then redrew the map and a lower court subsequently threw it out, ruling it violated Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.
“His unmatched skill and sharp constitutional insight earned him respect at every level of the judiciary, including the U.S. Supreme Court,” Attorney General Steve Marshall said in a statement. “President Trump could not have made a better choice. We are incredibly proud to see Eddie bring his intellect, humility and dedication to the federal bench.”
Before serving as solicitor general, LaCour was the deputy solicitor general. Prior to that, he was a partner at Kirkland & Ellis LLP in Washington, D.C.
Previously, Trump nominated LaCour for a judgeship for the Middle District of Alabama in 2020, but then Democratic Sen. Doug Jones of Alabama blocked the nomination after he did not return a “blue slip” for LaCour. Trump renominated him, but President Joe Biden withdrew his nomination when he entered office in 2021.
Earlier this month, the Senate Judiciary Committee advanced LaCour’s nomination on party lines by a vote of 12 to 10.