Latino voters seek to challenge Alabama Census lawsuit

scales-of-justice-court-gavel

Latino voters and civil-rights groups have asked to join a lawsuit to defend the practice of including people in the country illegally in U.S. Census counts. The counts are used to configure congressional seats. Alabama and Congressman Mo Brooks sued the Census Bureau and the U.S. Commerce Department in May, arguing the predicted 2020 Census numbers will cause the state to lose a congressional seat and an electoral vote to a state with a “larger illegal alien population.” It has been a longstanding practice to include all U.S. residents, including noncitizens regardless of immigration status, in the census, which also determines the number of congressional seats for each state. In 2016, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against two Texas residents who argued their votes were diluted by the practice of using the “whole population” to draw legislative district lines. Alabama is seeking to have the practice declared unconstitutional. The state argues it violates existing statutes that “require a census enumeration of the total of legally present resident population.” The Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund filed a motion on Thursday on behalf of six voters and the group Chicanos Por La Causa, which are seeking to join the case as defendants. They say they live in states, including California, Florida, Texas, and Arizona, that could lose congressional seats and federal funding if the count doesn’t include all residents. They fear the federal government will not fight for their interests in the case because it has “no specific incentive to defend the use of a particular population base” when it comes to configuring congressional seats. Instead, the motion says, the government’s stake is limited to defending the criteria and procedures used by the Census Bureau. The federal government is charged with “representing varied public and administrative interests,” the motion says. The voters and civil rights groups, on the other hand, are interested in protecting “their private interests in political access and representation” and the apportionment standard that is currently in place. Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.

Shipt commits to staying in Birmingham, adding 881 jobs

Shipt

The booming Birmingham founded business, Shipt announced Thursday that they will be keeping their headquarters in the Magic City, adding 881 new jobs in the area within the next few years. “Shipt was founded and has flourished in Birmingham, and we would not have reached the success we have today without the continued support of this community,” CEO Bill Smith said. “As a rapidly growing technology company, we feel fortunate to be able to offer an avenue for creating highly skilled jobs within Birmingham. Tuesday night the Birmingham City Council unanimously approved a new incentives package under which the company must not only add jobs, but also implement the City’s newly developed Talent Investment Program (TIP), Talent Acceleration Program (TAP), and Talent Optimization Program (TOP) as part of the incentives package. The City will provide incentives of up to $1,762,000.00, payable over a term of up to five years on the basis of $2,000.00 per each new employee, with such funding to be used by Shipt, Inc. as reimbursement for the cost of implementing TIP, TAP and TOP. “With this development package, we’ll be able to deepen our roots in our hometown, helping establish Birmingham as a center of technology and innovation not only in the South, but also within the United States,” Smith continued. Shipt already employs over 300 people in the Birmingham area – not including it’s shoppers. The 881 new jobs will be highly-skilled, highly paid positions, mostly in high-tech functions including software development and data processing. Smith said the company expects to add 50,000 shoppers by the end of the year, bringing the total number of shoppers up to 100,000. “Shipt represents the innovation, ingenuity and entrepreneurial spirit that is defining a new generation of builders in Birmingham, and we are proud that Shipt calls our city home,” Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin said. Governor Kay Ivey joined executives at Shipt headquarters in Birmingham for the announcement; “By simplifying life with innovative technology for personalized grocery delivery, Shipt is positioned for rapid growth,” Ivey said. “The ideal location for this growth is its hometown of Birmingham, and we’re committed to helping the company develop and attract the talent it needs to fuel its expansion plans in Alabama’s ‘Magic City.’” Woodfin posted a video of the announcement Thursday morning on Facebook. Watch the announcement by Kay Ivey below:

Millions from anonymous donors to influence Brett Kavanaugh fight

Brett Kavanaugh

Millions of dollars from anonymous donors are helping shape the fight over President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee as Republicans and Democrats undertake a bruising battle for ideological control of the nation’s loftiest tribunal. Even before Trump’s announcement Monday that he had picked Brett Kavanaugh, a federal appeals court judge, advocacy groups had begun lining up for and against the nomination and said they would spend heavily to influence the outcome of what’s expected to be a tumultuous confirmation process. One of the most prominent groups on the right, the Judicial Crisis Network, said it’s prepared to spend as much as $10 million or more in a pro-Kavanaugh advertising campaign that includes targeting vulnerable Senate Democrats. The liberal Demand Justice has spelled out plans for a $5 million effort to oppose Kavanaugh, beginning with ads aimed at pressuring moderate Republicans. While the groups’ positions on Kavanaugh are clear, their sources of cash aren’t. The anonymity is made possible by federal rules that permit groups structured as tax-exempt social welfare organizations to shield the identities of their benefactors. The upshot is that deep-pocketed donors may wield significant influence without ever revealing who they are, unless they choose to. Brendan Fischer of the nonprofit Campaign Legal Center said the arrangement is problematic because the public has no way of knowing whether the donors have a specific interest in a matter that may come before the Supreme Court. It also allows the donors to be rewarded by strategically disclosing their donations to people in positions of authority in Washington. “This secrecy prevents the public from evaluating these messages and keeps legislators from properly weighing the lobbying pressures to which they are subjected,” he said. Demand Justice and the Judicial Crisis aren’t the only advocacy groups mobilizing around Kavanaugh’s nomination, but they’re two of the most visible. Demand Justice launched stopkavanaugh.com shortly after Trump introduced Kavanaugh on Monday night. The website described his nomination as “the biggest fight of our lifetimes.” The Judicial Crisis Network set up confirmkavanaugh.com, calling Kavanaugh “a person of impeccable character, extraordinary qualifications, independence, and fairness.” The Judicial Crisis Network has received robust financial support for years from the Wellspring Committee, an obscure nonprofit founded a decade ago. Conservative activist Neil Corkery is Wellspring’s president and sole board member. He previously was treasurer of the Judicial Crisis Network. His wife, Ann Corkery, ran Wellspring before he did, according to federal tax return records. Both groups are registered as social welfare organizations, which are permitted to engage in limited political activities as long as politics isn’t their primary focus. Known by their IRS designation as 501(c)(4)s, they often include civic-minded groups such as homeowner associations and volunteer fire departments. “Involvement in political campaigns is not social welfare activity,” according to the political money website Open Secrets. “But it’s allowed as long as it is less than half of what the organization does.” Wellspring donated $39.3 million to the Judicial Crisis Network between 2010 and 2016, according to the tax filings. The single largest contribution, $23.4 million, was made in 2016, the same year President Barack Obama nominated Merrick Garland, also a federal appeals court judge, to the Supreme Court following Justice Antonin Scalia’s death. Garland’s nomination would be blocked by Senate Republicans, who argued the winner of the 2016 presidential race should pick Scalia’s replacement. The Judicial Crisis Network said it spent more than $17 million in 2016 and 2017 to run ads against Garland’s nomination and later in support of Neil Gorsuch, the federal appeals court judge nominated to the high court by Trump and confirmed by the Senate to replace Scalia. Wellspring isn’t required to disclose its donors. A list of its contributors for 2016, the latest year for which tax records are publicly available, excludes their names and addresses. It shows $32.2 million in contributions from eight separate sources. One donation was for $28.4 million, nearly 90 percent of Wellspring’s total revenue for that year. Neil Corkery declined to say how much Wellspring donated to the Judicial Crisis Network in 2017 and thus far in 2018. A message conveyed through Wellspring’s office manager said that information will be available after the tax returns for those years are filed. The organization’s 2016 return was submitted last November, so it may be months before new numbers are released. The Judicial Crisis Network and Wellspring share another connection: a small, largely unknown company called the BH Group LLC. Wellspring paid the BH Group $750,000 for unspecified public relations work while the Judicial Crisis Network paid the company $947,000 for unspecified research, according to tax records for 2016. The BH Group donated $1 million to Trump’s inaugural committee in December 2016. Demand Justice was formed just a few months ago and is structured in such a way that it doesn’t have to file annual tax returns. That’s because it’s “fiscally sponsored” by a tax-exempt social welfare organization called the Sixteen Thirty Fund. The Sixteen Thirty Fund files federal tax returns but doesn’t have to disclose the identities of its donors. Beth Kanter, a spokeswoman for the Sixteen Thirty Fund, said the organization “is nimble and can get projects off the ground quickly in a way that donors can’t do on their own.” In addition to Demand Justice, there are nearly 40 other initiatives sponsored by the Sixteen Thirty Fund, according to information filed with the District of Columbia’s Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs. Kanter said the Sixteen Thirty Fund “strictly follows all laws.” The organization’s president is Eric Kessler, the founder of Arabella Advisors and a former Clinton administration official. The executive director of Demand Justice is Brian Fallon, a former top aide to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., who later advised Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign in 2016. The Sixteen Thirty Fund’s tax return for 2016, the latest available, lists more than 60 donors who gave $21 million in contributions that ranged from $5,000 to $7.3 million. “We have a diverse set of donors that share our commitment to social justice,” Kanter

Five days until runoff election, final day for absentee ballot: get voting information here

vote here

With the Alabama runoff election only five days away voters in the Yellowhammer State need to know where to vote, and who’s on their ballot. Absentee ballots are available for those who cannot be physically present to vote, but today, July 12 is the last day to complete an application. According to the Secretary of State’s office here’s how to apply for an absentee ballot: To obtain an absentee ballot, write or visit the local Absentee Election Manager (usually the Circuit Clerk), request an absentee ballot, and provide the following: name and residential address (or other such information in order to verify voter registration) election for which the ballot is requested reason for absence from polls on election day party choice, if the election is a party primary. (It is not necessary to give a party choice for a general election; however, in a party primary a voter may participate in only one political party’s primary; thus a choice must be designated so that the appropriate ballot can be provided. If the voter declines or fails to designate a choice for a primary or primary runoff ballot, the absentee election manager may send only the ballot for constitutional amendments.) address to which the ballot should be mailed voter signature (If a mark is made in place of a signature, it must be witnessed) The absentee ballot application must be returned to the Absentee Election Manager by the voter in person (or by the voter’s designee in the case of medical emergency voting) or by U.S. Mail.  No absentee ballot application may be mailed in the same envelope as another voter’s absentee ballot application. Here are the links to the statewide runoff candidate’s campaign websites: Lieutenant Governor’s race: Will Ainsworth Twinkle Andress Cavanaugh Attorney General’s race: Troy King Steve Marshall Commission of Agriculture and Industries race: Gerald Dial Rick Pate Supreme Court place 1 race: Brad Mendheim Sarah Stewart Civil Appeals Court, place 1 race: Christy Edwards Michelle Thomason Criminal Appeals Court, place 2 race: Rich Anderson Chris McCool Sample Ballots: Jefferson County – Republican: Jefferson County – Democratic: Madison County – Republican: Madison County – Democratic: Mobile County – Republican: Montgomery County – Republican: Montgomery County – Democratic:

Alabama Power customers reap federal tax reform benefits this month

Alabama Power

Alabama Power customers are beginning to benefit this month from a decision made by the Alabama Public Service Commission related to federal tax reforms. Starting with July bills, the typical monthly bill for a residential customer is being reduced by more than $9 each month for the remainder of the year. “We are pleased to begin providing these savings to our customers,” said Richard Hutto, vice president of Regulatory Affairs for Alabama Power. The federal tax reform legislation, approved late last year, lowered corporate income tax rates, which reduces taxes for Alabama Power. Taxes levied on the company are passed on, so a lower tax rate directly benefits Alabama Power’s 1.4 million customers. This is the first portion of $337 million in savings coming to all Alabama Power customers through 2019. Republished with the permission of the Alabama Newscenter.

Government reopens probe of Emmett Till slaying

Emmett Louis Till

The federal government has reopened its investigation into the slaying of Emmett Till, the black teenager whose brutal killing in Mississippi shocked the world and helped inspire the civil rights movement more than 60 years ago. The Justice Department told Congress in a report in March it is reinvestigating Till’s slaying in Money, Mississippi, in 1955 after receiving “new information.” The case was closed in 2007 with authorities saying the suspects were dead; a state grand jury didn’t file any new charges. Deborah Watts, a cousin of Till, said she was unaware the case had been reopened until contacted by The Associated Press on Wednesday. The federal report, sent annually to lawmakers under a law that bears Till’s name, does not indicate what the new information might be. But it was issued in late March following the publication last year of “The Blood of Emmett Till,” a book that says a key figure in the case acknowledged lying about events preceding the slaying of the 14-year-old youth from Chicago. The book, by Timothy B. Tyson, quotes a white woman, Carolyn Donham, as acknowledging during a 2008 interview that she wasn’t truthful when she testified that Till grabbed her, whistled and made sexual advances at a store in 1955. Two white men — Donham’s then-husband Roy Bryant and his half-brother J.W. Milam — were charged with murder but acquitted in the slaying of Till, who had been staying with relatives in northern Mississippi at the time. The men later confessed to the crime in a magazine interview, but weren’t retried. Both are now dead. Donham, who turns 84 this month, lives in Raleigh, North Carolina. A man who came to the door at her residence declined to comment about the FBI reopening the investigation. “We don’t want to talk to you,” the man said before going back inside. Paula Johnson, co-director of an academic group that reviews unsolved civil rights slayings, said she can’t think of anything other than Tyson’s book that could have prompted the Justice Department to reopen the Till investigation. “We’re happy to have that be the case so that ultimately or finally someone can be held responsible for his murder,” said Johnson, who leads the Cold Case Justice Initiative at Syracuse University. The Justice Department declined to comment on the status of the probe. Watts, Till’s cousin and co-founder of the Emmett Till Legacy Foundation, said it’s “wonderful” that the killing is getting another look, but didn’t want to discuss details. “None of us wants to do anything that jeopardizes any investigation or impedes, but we are also very interested in justice being done,” she said. Abducted from the home where he was staying, Till was beaten and shot, and his body was found weighted down with a cotton gin fan in the Tallahatchie River. His mother, Mamie Till, had his casket left open. Images of his mutilated body gave witness to the depth of racial hatred in the Deep South and helped build momentum for subsequent civil rights campaigns. Relatives of Till pushed Attorney General Jeff Sessions to reopen the case last year following publication of the book. `Donham, then known as Carolyn Bryant and 21 years old at the time, testified in 1955 as a prospective defense witness in the trial of Bryant and Milam. With jurors out of the courtroom, she said a “nigger man” she didn’t know took her by the arm. “Just what did he say when he grabbed your hand?” defense attorney Sidney Carlton asked, according to a trial transcript released by the FBI a decade ago. “He said, ‘How about a date, baby?’” she testified. Bryant said she pulled away, and moments later the young man “caught me at the cash register,” grasping her around the waist with both hands and pulling her toward him. “He said, ’What’s the matter baby, can’t you take it?’” she testified. Bryant also said he told her “you don’t need to be afraid of me,” claiming that he used an obscenity and mentioned something he had done “with white women before.” A judge ruled the testimony inadmissible. An all-white jury freed her husband and the other man even without it. Testimony indicated a woman might have been in a car with Bryant and Milam when they abducted Till, but no one else was ever charged. In the book, author Tyson wrote that Donham told him her testimony about Till accosting her wasn’t true. “Nothing that boy did could ever justify what happened to him,” the book quotes her as saying. Sen. Doug Jones, D-Alabama, introduced legislation this week that would make the government release information about unsolved civil rights killings. In an interview, Jones said the Till killing or any other case likely wouldn’t be covered by this legislation if authorities were actively investigating. “You’d have to leave it to the judgment of some of law enforcement agencies that are involved or the commission that would be created” to consider materials for release, Jones said. Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.

Martha Roby visits Fort Rucker for Warrant Officer Day

On Monday, U.S. Rep. Martha Roby visited Fort Rucker in Alabama’s Second Congressional District to commemorate the 100-year anniversary of the Army Warrant Officer Corp. “It was great to be at Fort Rucker to commemorate this day in our nation’s history and honor those who have served or are currently serving,” Roby said on Facebook. As co-chair of the Army Aviation Caucus, Roby, along with the support of the entire Alabama House delegation as cosponsors, introduced legislation in June to designate July 9 as Warrant Officer Day. H. Res. 947 celebrates a century of warrant officer service and “honors and recognizes the contributions of all warrant officers of the Army, past, present, and future.” Roby present the Congressional Record entry she authored while visiting the fort. “Throughout their 100-year history, Army Warrant Officers have proudly represented the expertise and professionalism that led to their founding on July 9, 1918,” Roby said. “The resolution I offered in the House to designate July 9 as National Warrant Officer Day is just a small token of appreciation for the service and sacrifices of our brave men and women who have served or are currently serving as Army Warrant Officers.” The Army Warrant Officer Corp was established on July 9, 1918; 2018 marks their 100th year of service to the U.S. Army. Today, Army Warrant Officers serve as technical experts, combat leaders, trainers, or advisers who fall into one of two categories: Aviators or Technicians. Army Warrant Officers serve on active duty, U.S. Army Reserve, and Army National Guard.

Mike Pompeo presses Europe to get tough on Iran

Mike Pompeo

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Thursday pressed European nations to get tough on Iran by cutting off all funding the country may use to foment instability in the Middle East and beyond. Pompeo was meeting with European officials in Brussels following a summit of NATO leaders to make the case for clamping down on Iranian “terrorism and proxy wars.” He urged them to join a U.S.-led economic pressure campaign against Tehran that began in earnest after President Donald Trump withdrew from the landmark Iran nuclear deal in May. “We ask our allies and partners to join our economic pressure campaign against Iran’s regime,” Pompeo said in a tweet ahead of his talks. “We must cut off all funding the regime uses to fund terrorism and proxy wars. There’s no telling when Iran may try to foment terrorism, violence & instability in one of our countries next.” The tweet was accompanied by a map accusing Iran of sponsoring at least 11 terrorist attacks in Europe since 1978. In another post, he said “Iran continues to send weapons across the Middle East, in blatant violation of UN Security Council resolutions. Iran’s regime wants to start trouble wherever it can. It’s our responsibility to stop it.” His comments came as other U.S. officials have fanned out around the globe to warn foreign governments to stop buying oil from Iran or face sanctions and after he accused Iran of using its embassies to plot terrorist attacks in Europe. “Just this past week there were Iranians arrested in Europe who were preparing to conduct a terror plot in Paris, France. We have seen this malign behavior in Europe,” Pompeo said in an interview on Tuesday with Sky News Arabia in Abu Dhabi. He was referring to the arrest of an Iranian diplomat posted to Vienna who was allegedly involved in the plot to bomb an Iranian opposition group rally in France on June 30. The envoy’s arrest in Germany came after a couple with Iranian roots was stopped in Belgium and authorities reported finding powerful explosives in their car. Iran denies involvement and contends the allegations against its diplomat are intended to damage its relations with the European Union. The diplomat, Assadollah Assadi, was charged in Germany on Wednesday with activity as a foreign agent and conspiracy to commit murder. He is suspected of contracting a couple in Belgium to attack an annual meeting of an exiled Iranian opposition group in Villepinte, near Paris, German prosecutors said. He allegedly gave the Antwerp-based couple a device containing 500 grams of the explosive TATP during a meeting in Luxembourg in late June, prosecutors said in a written statement. Belgian authorities also accuse Assadi of being part of the alleged plot reportedly aimed at setting off explosives at a huge annual rally of the Mujahedeen-e-Khalq group, or MEK, in neighboring France, and want him extradited. The MEK is an exiled Iranian opposition group based near Paris with some members in Albania. The formerly armed group was removed from European Union and U.S. terrorism lists several years ago after denouncing violence and getting western politicians to lobby on its behalf. Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.