Naked Justice: A Donald Trump SCOTUS Pick Has An Alleged Gay Porn Past

This story originally appeared on our brother publication, The Sword.

The fact that virulently anti-gay Justice Bill Pryor allegedly appeared on a gay porn site is a big deal. But now that’s he’s appeared on the Donald’s SCOTUS list, it’s a huge deal.

Worst case scenario would be having to endure Trump/Palin for eight years. But if they get to pick to a SCOTUS judge, America will have to live with that appointment for a lifetime. Justice Prior would let states jail LGBT people for having sex in their homes. Have I got your attention now?

Within the law, of course, what Judge Pryor or anyone may have done with their penis as a college student, i.e. posing for gay porn pictures, should have no bearing on their judicial aptitude. This is about what he has done and potentially will do with his gavel.

Law focused blog LegalSchnauzer first uncovered the images in 2013 and with Judge Pryor making national headlines again, they have updated their original story.

Those who think Donald Trump is not a serious presidential candidate received new ammunition yesterday with the release of a list of individuals Trump considers possible nominees to the U.S. Supreme Court. Included on the list is an Alabama judge who posed nude during his college days for a series of photographs that wound up at the BadPuppy.com gay-pornography Web site in the late ’90s.

William H. “Bill” Pryor’s foray into gay porn probably is more substantive than anything he’s done as a judge. President George W. Bush nominated the virulently homophobic Pryor to the U.S. Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals in 2003, even though the Alabama attorney general had zero experience as a judge–not even in municipal or traffic court.

Nude photographs of federal judge Bill Pryor appeared in the 1990s on a gay pornography Web site, a Legal Schnauzer investigation shows.

The photos appeared in 1997 on BadPuppy.com, which was in its online infancy, having debuted in mid 1995. Based in Cocoa, Florida, the site has morphed into one of the largest gay porn sites on the Web.

Images obtained by Legal Schnauzer show Pryor posing completely nude, staring into the camera and sporting a noticeable erection. We see no indication that the photos were taken surreptitiously, without Pryor’s knowledge. Sources say Pryor was college age when the photos were taken.

Alleged original image as published by BadPuppy.com (click to open full size)

Is there doubt about the photographs’ authenticity? Well, a major Republican political figure in Alabama was shown the pictures in the late ’90s and immediately exclaimed, “Holy Cow, That’s Bill Pryor!” A former female political journalist at a Birmingham news outlet was shown the photos and reportedly guffawed and semi-fainted at the same time. Did either of those insiders express any doubt that it was Bill Pryor in the photo? Nope.

Here’s more about the photographs’ history:

Alabama law-enforcement officials became aware of the photos at BadPuppy.com in 1997, not long before Governor Fob James appointed Pryor attorney general. An investigation ensued, and multiple officials familiar with that process have told Legal Schnauzer that the photos are, in fact, of the Bill Pryor who now sits on the U.S. Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals. Sources say the photos were taken while Pryor was a student at Northeast Louisiana University (now University of Louisiana Monroe) from 1980 to 1984.

Legal Schnauzer contacted Judge Pryor last Friday via e-mail, seeking an interview about the photographs and their possible implications for his role on the federal bench. Pryor responded as follows:
I have nothing to say to you except that these accusations are totally false. Do not contact me again. Bill Pryor.

If the photos were not of Pryor, wouldn’t it be easy for the judge to invite an inquisitive reporter to his office at the Hugo Black Courthouse in downtown Birmingham, lay out several family photos of himself from the undergrad days, show that he didn’t look then like the young man in the photo (with a noticeable erection), and put the story to bed? That would seem like an easy way to handle it. But Pryor never has done that.

Instead, the story was picked up by Above the Law, the nation’s No. 1 legal blog, plus dozens of other blogs and news sites. When other journalists sent queries to Pryor, he responded by having a former law clerk send out a canned statement.

Perhaps most troubling of all is reports that the secrets in Pryor’s past actually helped his judicial career–that he was nominated to the bench so he would be vulnerable to blackmail, ensuring that he would steer cases to outcomes favorable to conservative interests. Here’s how we described it in a December 2014 post:

In fact, our sources say conservative forces pushed George W. Bush to make the appointment, not because of any legal expertise on Pryor’s part, but because his secrets make him controllable. [Journalist Wayne] Madsen calls Pryor a “gatekeeper” for Republican interests. Others have called him a “fixer,” that he protects Karl Rove’s agenda on the bench. Rove once served as Pryor’s campaign manager in a race for Alabama attorney general.

Either way, Pryor appears to be a judge of dubious integrity.

Dubious indeed.

The GOP is blocking President’s Obama pick of Judge Merrick Garland to fill the vacant seat of former SCOTUS Judge Scalia to “wait for the next administration.” The consequences of this election could mean President Trump and SCOTUS Judge Pryor. That would mean potential devastation for the rights of our community in addition to a disaster for our country.

Regardless of how your candidate fairs in the primary, don’t let sour grapes sour our future. Come Election Day; it’s more crucial than ever to vote for the Democratic nominee and elect a Democratic House and Senate that will advance their agenda and confirm their SCOTUS picks.

Donald Trump is right about one thing: this could be huge.

 
 
And now, back to our regularly scheduled pornography. TGIF

Tags: Donald Trump, Election 2016