Kay Ivey issues religious liberty executive order
Alabama Governor Kay Ivey on Friday signed Executive Order 733, “Promoting and Defending Religious Liberty Through Implementation of the Alabama Religious Freedom Amendment.” The executive order aims to “further strengthen protections for religious liberty in Alabama.” “Religious freedom is the cornerstone of the American way of life, and as governor, I will always protect the rights of Alabamians and ensure they are free to exercise their beliefs as provided in the Constitution,” Gov. Ivey stated. “As I have promised, under my watch, our state government will always reflect the values of our people.” Executive Order 733 ensures the enforcement of the Alabama Religious Freedom Amendment, which was proposed and ratified in 1998 as a reaction to federal court decisions viewed as hostile to the free exercise of religion. The order specifies several legal principles providing religious-liberty protections for professionals and businesses holding a government license, state contractors, grant recipients, recipients of government benefits, and state employees. One provision requires state executive-branch agencies to consider potential burdens on religious exercise when they adopt administrative rules. Another provision requires state agencies to allow state employees to express their faith to the same extent that they allow employee expression that is not religious in nature. Ivey’s office says that the Governor has a record of protecting religious freedom in Alabama. Ivey recently met with the Oakwood Academy boy’s basketball team after the Seventh Day Adventist school was forced to forfeit its playoff game due to the team’s observance of the Sabbath. The Alabama High School Athletic Association (AHSAA) policy that forced the team’s forfeiture has since been amended to accommodate faith-based scheduling requests. The order protects the religious rights of government contractors, state employees, and citizens requesting government services. It forbids discrimination on the basis of faith and even discrimination against those with no religious belief. Baldwin County Attorney Harry Still disagreed with Ivey issuing the executive order. “This is obviously some model implementation dreamed up by the Heritage Foundation or some other think tank,” Still said. “Another folly of the populists baiting Republicans. Populists don’t believe that we can legislate our way into utopia. This is not in any way in the “Southern tradition” who feared above all things the return of Papal influence.” “I can also imagine a scenario where we can’t open bids on a particular day because it falls in Ramadan or something like that,” Still continued. “Remember, we have to accommodate all religious edicts when dealing with contractors with the state of Alabama and all religious entities.” Still said the order, “Protects the rights of a state employee to express their religious leanings in the same way that they would express whether they were for Auburn or Alabama- to break it down for your readers.” Still was a candidate for Attorney General in the 2022 Republican primary. Ivey was inaugurated to her second full term as Governor just a week ago. Since then, she has issued three executive orders intended to improve government accountability and transparency and four executive orders meant to improve public school performance. To connect with the author of this story, or to comment, email brandonmreporter@gmail.com.
Judge Steven King suspended by Judicial Inquiry Commission
On Tuesday, the Alabama Judicial Inquiry Commission (JIC) suspended Blount County Circuit Judge Steven D. King over allegations he violated the Alabama canons of judicial ethics. The JIC claims in the complaint that Judge King sent an anonymous complaint letter to the media claiming that a Warrior police officer and two Blount County Commissioners were unfit for office. Specifically, the complaint claims that in the anonymous letter, Judge King alleged that Blount County Commissioner Dean Calvert and the Warrior police officer used fraud to obtain property. The complaint also alleges that King claimed that the Warrior police officer had an adulterous affair while on vacation in Gulf Shores and that Calvert and the other County Commissioner allowed the Warrior police officer to have a liaison with the young woman in their hotel room – a hotel room paid for by taxpayers to attend the Association of County Commissioners meeting. The JIC claims that King provided the anonymous letter and documents, including proceedings from Blount and Etowah County court pleadings and recordings, to an attorney who practices in Blount County at a Pinson fast food restaurant. The attorney then mailed the packages out to 18 news outlets. The letter is not signed, and there is nothing in the documents confirming that the package came from Judge King. Locust Fork native and journalist Christopher Peeks spoke with Alabama Today about the situation. “It looks like Judge King enacted a scorched Earth policy,” Peek said. “He is not just trying to drain the swamp; he’s trying to blow the whole thing up.” The complaint makes clear that, according to the JIC, King’s alleged role in gathering the evidence against Commissioner Calvert, the other commissioner, and the officer, is a violation of the Alabama Judicial Code of ethics and thus grounds King’s removal from the bench. King is suspended following the JIC ruling and was already planning to leave the bench next month after 15 years of service on the court. Baldwin County Attorney Harry Still, a 2022 Republican primary candidate for Alabama Attorney General, talked with Alabama Today about the case. “I have a case before Judge King’s court, so was not going to comment on this complaint, but will since King has left the case,” Still said. “After reading this complaint, I admire Judge King and am shocked and appalled that this honorable jurist has been crucified and forced off the bench because he tried to do the right thing.” “It is crazy that the whistleblower judge is the one who is shamed and the one who loses his office here,” Still said. “I don’t know what the Judicial Inquiry Commission is doing here but playing politics.” Still is a contributor to a podcast that comments on state and Baldwin County political issues, among other topics. Tuscaloosa Attorney Luisa Reyes disagreed. “It is unfortunate that the events have transpired as they have,” Reyes told Alabama Today. “However, to maintain the integrity of the judicial system, a judge has to avoid impropriety and the appearance of impropriety. And it appears that in this instance, the judge acted more as a skilled attorney than in the aloof manner befitting his position.” The JIC complaint made no claims about the content of the merits of King’s claims of political corruption in Blount County. There is already an online petition circulating demanding that Calvert resign over recordings that appear to show him making racial slurs. To connect with the author of this story, or to comment, email brandonmreporter@gmail.com.
