Luther Strange celebrates “precedent-setting” ruling in theft of property cases
Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange recently released a statement hailing what he called a “precedent-setting” ruling that will have a wide-reaching consequences in theft of property cases. The ruling was made by the Alabama Supreme Court on Friday in the case of James R. Hall v. State of Alabama. As former commander of the Houston County chapter of Disabled American Veterans (DAV), Hall wrote a $1,500 check to himself from a DAV account. After other board members called the transaction into question, Hall refused to pay back the money. On Feb. 9, 2015, Hall was convicted of second-degree theft of property and sentenced to two years in prison. On appeal, Hall asserted the charges should be dropped, that he was convicted of “theft of currency” while he actually stole a check. The Court of Criminal Appeals upheld the conviction and the Alabama Supreme Court followed that affirmation with a decision that “overruled cases relying on antiquated methods for valuating currency.” When referencing “antiquated methods of valuating currency,” Strange’s statement makes the following comparison: “For example, in long past years, five silver coins would have been worth less than five gold coins, so the value of what was stolen depended on its particular nature. Today’s Alabama Supreme Court decision modernized the law to reflect modern financial practices, which recognize that the value of currency is standardized and is not dependent on whether the medium of exchange is currency, check, debit card, or credit card.” “This is an important case that changes previous holdings which would have resulted in criminals being set free because of an insignificant technicality in the language of an indictment,” Strange said in a prepared statement. “This means that criminals will be held to account for their theft, whether it be of currency, a check, or other medium of monetary exchange.”
Federal judge rules Alabama abortion restriction unconstitutional
A federal judge struck down parts of a controversial Alabama law Friday that requires abortion clinics to have admitting privileges at a local hospital. U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson had blocked the state from enforcing the law, but went on to rule it unconstitutional last week. Thompson ruled that the provision puts an undue burden on women and would cause many abortion clinics to close: Four of Alabama’s five clinics would likely have been forced to close had the provision been upheld. “The impact of the law on the right of Alabama women to choose to have an abortion will simply be enormous,” Thompson wrote. “The staff privileges requirement would make it impossible for a woman to obtain an abortion in much of the State. It is certain that thousands of women per year – approximately 40 percent of those seeking abortions in the State would be unduly burdened.” The provision in question came from the 2014 Women’s Health and Safety Act, which put in place a litany of requirements for abortion clinics, including requirements that clinics be classified as an “ambulatory service” and adhere to all of the restrictions therein. “We applaud the court for protecting women’s access to safe, legal abortion in Alabama,” Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards said in a news release. “As a health care provider, we’ve seen the grim consequences for women when politicians put safe abortion out of reach.” The U.S. Supreme Court is considering the constitutionality of a similar Texas law. In its statement, Planned Parenthood noted that a study published in the American Journal of Public Health shows “the harm to Texas women facing tremendous hurdles to access safe, legal abortion, including traveling hundreds of miles, multi-day trips, and increased cost – if they can access an abortion at all.” Neither National Right to Life or the Alabama Pro-Life Coalition responded to requests for comment on the recent ruling.
Supreme Court rejects appeal from death row inmate
The Alabama Supreme Court is refusing to intervene in the case of an Alabama man who is facing execution for throwing four children off a bridge to their deaths. The justices did not comment Monday in rejecting an appeal from Lam Luong. He argued that pretrial publicity prevented him from having a fair trial. Luong was sentenced to death in 2009 for driving the four children to the Dauphin Island Bridge in Mobile County and throwing them into the Mississippi Sound about 100 feet below. Three of the four children were Luong’s and the other was his wife’s from a previous relationship. The Alabama Supreme Court reinstated his convictions in the four deaths after a lower court had ruled in Luong’s favor. Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
State’s Department of Revenue offers tips as tax deadline looms
With the deadline for filing 2016 taxes less than a month away, the Alabama Department of Revenue (ADOR) has offered tips to ensure taxpayers are ready. Because of an overlap in tax deadlines and federal/state holidays, this year’s deadline will be April 18. Tips provided by the department include: To ensure that citizens are not having their identities stolen and false claims filed in their names, ADOR may send notification to taxpayers stating they are required to complete an “identity confirmation quiz.” Anyone who receives such a quiz will be required to complete it before a return will be issued. The quiz can be completed in one of two methods. The quiz can be completed on the telephone by calling 1-800-535-9410 or online. Accessing the quiz will require the letter ID, last four digits of your Social Security number and date of birth. State returns can be filed for free using My Alabama Taxes (MAT). Filing returns will require filers to sign up for a MAT username to access their income tax account, file their return, and make payments. Taxpayers can sign up online. This year, filers can take advantage of a new security feature that allows an opt-in service that will notify them when ADOR receives an Individual Income Tax return that has been filed using a Social Security number. This service can help alert filers to the possibility that criminals have stolen information and are using it to steal the refund. Opt-in by logging into MAT and follow the link, “Notify Me of Filed Returns.” There are two ways to check the status of a refund: Visit https://myalabamataxes.alabama.gov, click on “Check on My Refund Status” on the left, then enter the refund amount and Social Security number or call the refund hotline number 1-855-894-7391. Alabama individual and business income taxpayers are no longer required to file an Alabama extension form if they find they cannot meet their annual return filing deadline. Taxpayers will be given an automatic single six-month extension to file. The automatic extension only applies to filing a return; no extensions are granted for payment of taxes due. The ADOR statement further notes that the best advice in terms of 2017 tax filing is to file early. “Filing early allows taxpayers to file before the criminals,” a news release from the ADOR said. “Beat the criminals to the punch and any subsequent fraudulent return filings will be rejected.”
John Merrill, Alabama Interactive offer state’s first online voter info portal
On Monday, Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill announced that his office has partnered with Alabama Interactive, a website that makes a variety of public state records accessible, to provide the state’s first online portal for voter information. According to the Code of Alabama, the Secretary of State “shall provide access to lists and voter history information contained on the central computer to anyone making application, and there shall be a uniform charge for the production of voter lists,” according to a statement released Monday. The newly established portal will offer access to lists and voter history, though requests for municipal voter information must still submit a request to Merrill’s office. Forms for such a request can be downloaded at the Secretary of State’s website. “We are very excited to be able to offer this service to the citizens of Alabama,” Merrill said in Monday’s statement. “This new feature continues my efforts to increase transparency and will allow any interested citizen, candidate or elected official to be able to custom prepare and purchase the voter list they desire without having to contact another person to do it. The system will be secure, cost efficient and provide easy access to the available information.” Lists will cost one cent per voter record requested, as well as a “nominal” processing fee. The portal will not offer “official election results, poll lists, or any other information involved in official election preparation or post-election procedures.”
Presidential Primary Brief: 224 days until Election Day
232 days until Election Day Convention Dates: Republican July 18-21 2016, Democratic July 25-28 2016 Weekly Headlines: California Poll: Trump ahead in GOP primary Sanders romps in Washington, Alaska, Hawaii CNN/ORC Poll: Clinton tops Trump on presidential traits Press Clips: Starbucks CEO Says Presidential Election Will Be a Test of Americans’ Morality (Fortune 3/23/16) Starbucks Chief Executive Howard Schultz gave an impassioned plea for civility in the run up to the November presidential election, calling it a critical test of Americans’ morality. Schultz, who is outspoken, progressive, and often controversial on social issues, told an annual meeting of Starbucks shareholders in Seattle on Wednesday that he feels enormous pain at the harsh and coarse tenor of political discourse and growing cynicism among the electorate. “There are moments where I’ve had a hard time recognizing who we are and who we are becoming,” Schultz said. He added: “We are facing a test not only of our character but of our morality as a people.” Concern for environmental issues rises ahead of 2016 election (MSNBC 3/21/16) New polls indicate that concern for environmental issues has risen ahead of the 2016 presidential election. Americans are taking global warming more seriously now than at any period in the last eight years, according to Gallup’s annual environment survey. Sixty-four percent of Americans said that they are either worried a “great deal” or “fair amount” about global warming. At this time in 2015, only 55 percent of Americans said they felt this way. Findings from Gallup also reveal that 63 percent of Americans said the weather in their local area was warmer than usual this winter. When they were asked what they attributed these temperatures to, more Americans ascribed the shift to climate change than normal variation. Gallup’s report noted that “a larger, more regionally and politically diverse group of Americans is reporting warmer temperatures this year.” Sanders worried Clinton won’t debate (Politico 3/27/16) Sen. Bernie Sanders said Sunday that he wants to have a debate with former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ahead of the April 19 New York presidential primary, but he is worried that Clinton, once the state’s senator, does not. “Yeah, I do have a little bit of concern about that,” Sanders said on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” after easily winning Saturday in Alaska, Hawaii and Washington. “But I certainly would like to see a debate in New York state.” Sanders declined to say what his conditions would be to support Clinton as the Democrats’ presidential nominee, telling host Chuck Todd, “I hope very much, Chuck, that you will be asking her that question.” How YouTube is shaping the 2016 presidential election (Washington Post 3/25/16) In the years since Sarah Palin’s sound bites and the “Obama girl” cemented 2008 as America’s first “YouTube election,” the world’s most popular video site has proven even more spellbinding — and powerful — than political campaigns ever imagined. In January, a political ad — actually, three — ranked among YouTube’s 10 most-watched ads for the first time in history, delivering millions more views to campaigns than to the best commercials corporate America had to offer. And in the early caucus and primary states of Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada, the streaming giant’s open pool of reserved ad time did something it had never done: It sold out, a sign that candidates yearned so deeply to reach voters’ cell phones that they wanted to snatch up every YouTube second money could buy. Cruz’s missing Obamacare replacement plan (Politico 3/27/16) Everyone knows how Ted Cruz feels about Obamacare. He’s the guy who shut down the government in a bid to kill it — and should he reach the White House, he’d take a blowtorch to the law. But Cruz isn’t very clear about what — if anything — he’d do to replace a law covering 20 million people. And some establishment Republicans suggest that he address this head-on before the pivotal April 5 primary in Wisconsin, where Republican leaders have been more aggressive in fleshing out alternative health plans. What the Brussels attacks mean for the 2016 presidential race (Fortune 3/22/16) At least 34 people have died in terrorist attacks Brussels, Belgium, one in Brussels’ international airport on Tuesday, and the other in one of the city’s subway stations. The attacks have already resulted in a massive outpouring of sympathy from politicians, world leaders, and others throughout the world. Such a devastating attack is bound to have a profound effect on the political conversation both in Europe and beyond, particularly on matters of security and counterterrorism. And it will surely affect the tone and tenor of the race for the presidency in the United States. Lindsey Graham On The 2016 Election: ‘My Party Is Completely Screwed Up’ (Huffington Post 3/24/16) For Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), the only thing worse than the prospect of Ted Cruz as president is the prospect of Donald Trump as president. Graham begrudgingly expressed his support for Cruz in an interview with Trevor Noah on Wednesday night, telling “The Daily Show” host that the Texas senator was his “15th choice” to win the GOP nomination. Graham ultimately concluded that Cruz should be the nominee because “he’s not Trump.” And that’s where things got interesting. “If Donald Trump carries the banner of my party,” Graham said, “I think it taints conservatism for generations to come. I think his campaign is opportunistic, race-baiting, religious bigotry, xenophobia. Other than that, he’d be a good nominee.” Bernie Sanders Continues To Dominate Caucuses, But He’s About To Run Out Of Them (FiveThirtyEight 3/27/16) Bernie Sanders won a trifecta of states on Saturday. He put up big victories in Alaska, Hawaii and Washington, after carrying Idaho and Utah earlier in the week. Sanders beat his delegate targets by a solid margin in all five of these states and closed Hillary Clinton’s pledged delegate lead to just north of 225.1 In doing so, Sanders highlighted an ongoing Clinton weakness: caucuses. All five of Sanders’s wins this week came
Marco Rubio donors to remain secret indefinitely
Much was made of Jeb Bush‘s relentless maneuvering when it came to early fundraising, but the actual dark money pioneer of 2016 may well be U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio. As Shane Goldmacher writes in POLITICO, the Florida senator’s top moneymen allies at Conservative Solutions Project managed to stake out a novel arrangement that will allow the sources of more than $10 million in funding for opposition research, mailers, and TV ads will remain forever unknown to the public. “It is now the model for a how a candidate can inject unlimited, secret, corrupting money into their campaigns to benefit their election,” said Fred Wertheimer, president of Democracy 21, a campaign watchdog group. “That is precisely the kind of model that we do not need in America.” The pro-Rubio nonprofit, known as the Conservative Solutions Project, was created in early 2014 and run by some of the same political operatives who would later lead for his super PAC, including South Carolina strategist Warren Tompkins. Both groups can accept unlimited donations from donors, but unlike like the super PAC, the nonprofit can keep its contributors hidden from the public — permanently. The Conservative Solutions Project operates under the “social welfare” 501(c)4 section of the tax code, which requires such groups not be primarily involved in political matters. The pro-Rubio nonprofit has claimed not to be directly involved in electoral politics. Yet the group paid for a raft of polling and research in the early primary states of Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, as well as in Rubio’s home state of Florida. It bought millions in TV ads that aired in those early states, and it filled the mailboxes of Republican voters there with pro-Rubio literature. In fact, the Conservative Solutions Project was the second biggest TV advertiser of the 2016 campaign last year — trailing behind only Jeb Bush’s super PAC, according to a media tracker. Loose nonprofit tax laws, and an unusual filing schedule set up by its creators, ensure the pro-Rubio nonprofit will file little paperwork covering the primary period until April 2017 — months after the next president is sworn in. And even then, no donors will be named. “If you are trying to obscure your activities, they’re perfect,” Robert Maguire, a nonprofit investigator for the Center for Responsive Politics, said of 501(c)4s. Though a spokesman representing both Conservative Solutions Project and Rubio’s super PAC defends the “social welfare” designation saying the former was not involved in explicit electioneering, the two groups shared staffs and buildings. Their ads also aired only in states key to Rubio’s electoral success – Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina – where his campaign’s “3,2,1 strategy” sought to launch Rubio to the top of the GOP field. The supposed firewalls between Rubio’s political backers and backers of his social welfare rely on cutting the baloney extremely thin, writes Goldmacher: The nonprofit’s broadcast ads ran through November 22 in Iowa and New Hampshire. About a week later the Rubio super PAC picked up where it left off. The same ad buying firm, Target Enterprises, executed the ad reservations for both the Rubio super PAC and nonprofit. “They could not have been more blatant with the way this took place,” Wertheimer said. At some television stations, such as WMUR in Manchester and KCCI in Des Moines, the forms the television stations filed with the Federal Communications Commission listed the nonprofit as spending on behalf of “Marco Rubio 2016.” When that became public, the nonprofit’s attorney sent letters to some stations asking to correct those records, arguing their ads starring Rubio were not actually about Rubio. “CSP does not make candidate-related, political expenditures,” wrote Cleta Mitchell, the group’s lawyer and a prominent GOP attorney, of the Conservative Solutions Project. “All public communications are centered around important policy debates and concerns.” Some of Rubio’s rivals, particularly from the Jeb Bush camp, tried to make an issue of the questionable fundraising and disclosure tactics employed by the pro-Rubio 501(c)4. But this year’s slash-and-burn primary season was not well-suited for that kind of nuance, writes Goldmacher. Bush’s team, in particular, tried to highlight Rubio’s use of nonprofit as they battled over fundraising totals. “Haven’t seen the Rubio news release on frugality did it include the $6 million in secret money TV ads they saved money on?” as Bush communications director Tim Miller tweeted in October. The issue, however, never really broke through. “You’re talking about two of the most boring and convoluted fields of law: campaign finance and nonprofit tax law,” said Maguire, the nonprofit investigator. “Trying to explain that in an election where you have someone as outrageous as Donald Trump — it’s hard to do.”
Donald Trump’s daughter gives birth to 3rd child
Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump is a grandfather — again. The billionaire businessman’s daughter, Ivanka Trump, has given birth to her third child with husband Jared Kushner. Ivanka Trump announced the birth of her son, Theodore James, on Twitter Sunday, saying that the family feels ‘‘incredibly blessed.’’ Donald Trump, who has frequently made mention of his daughter’s pregnancy while campaigning for the Republican nomination, has not yet made any public statements on the birth of his eighth grandchild. Ivanka is the second of three children Donald Trump had with ex-wife Ivana Trump. Republished with the permission of the Associated Press. Baby Theodore. My heart is full. xx, Ivanka #grateful pic.twitter.com/aOux7Nm3BU — Ivanka Trump (@IvankaTrump) March 28, 2016
