When Associate Justice Harold See of the Alabama Supreme Court steps down from the bench this month, it will mark the end of a 12-year legacy of applying the law as it is written.Exactly how that vacuum will affect the state’s highest court remains to be seen, but the Alabama Farmers Federation, recognizing the consequences of the 65-year-old justice’s retirement, presented him with a the Judicial Award of Excellence during its 87th Annual Meeting in Mobile.”He personifies the proper role of a judge that applies the law as it is written; not an ‘activist’ judge who seeks to impose his own will,” said Federation President Jerry A. Newby, adding that See views his role as one who defines the law as it is, not as one who defines it as what it should be.”I have been serving as an Alabama Supreme Court justice because I deeply believe in the rule of law,” See said in accepting the award. “I believe it’s no less than our Constitution requires, and I believe that our Constitution requires that for a reason because the concentration of power is what threatens our freedom. The Constitution, therefore, divides those powers. It is the job of the Legislature to make the law, to write the law. It’s the job of the court to apply the law. And that’s what I have stood for. I believe that our freedom depends upon it.”See was born at the Great Lakes Naval Training Center in Illinois while his father was serving with the Navy in the South Pacific.Working his way through school as a heavy equipment operator, sheet metal worker and roofer, See earned his juris doctorate from the University of Iowa College of Law where he graduated with honors. After a stint teaching economics at Illinois State University, he went into law practice. Later, he joined the faculty of the University of Alabama’s School of Law where he served for more than 20 years.He made his first run for the Supreme Court in 1994 when the Alabama Civil Justice Reform Committee was organized to back a slate of conservative, business-minded justices on a court that, at the time, was ruled entirely by Democrats. See lost that race to incumbent justice Mark Kennedy, son-in-law of former Gov. George Wallace, by less than one percentage point. Two years later, he ran again and won.During his tenure, See’s rulings reflected a strict constructionist viewpoint of the Constitution, a stance that many observers say helped deliver Alabama from the throes of a climate hostile to the state’s business development efforts.”Justice See has been good for business in Alabama,” Newby said. “A lot of legal experts and business leaders believe if he had not led this reform of our court system in Alabama, we would not have had the job creation and expansion of business that Alabama has experienced the past decade and a half.”See also played a major role in the so-called “Equity Funding Case,” in which the plaintiffs sought to have Alabama’s entire system of education funding declared unconstitutional — a move the court saw as a sleight-of-hand attempt to order a tax increase.”I am deeply appreciative and humbled by this award. And I am humbled by it because it comes from you,” See told the Federation audience. “You are people of character and integrity. I’ve seen you stand up for what you believe is right, and stand up for it regardless of consequence. You live up to your commitments.”Furthermore, See said, Federation members have a role in the way the law is applied.”We can’t do it unless you and people like you take the stand and support the rule of law, support the Constitution,” See said. “You’ve done it. You’ve shown you’re willing to do it, whether it is in your short-term best interest or not because you understand that for all of us — for our children and for our grandchildren — ultimately, (the Constitution) is what preserves the freedom that we enjoy.”