Additional plaintiffs added to lawsuit against Kay Ivey and Scott Harris over COVID shutdowns
The Alabama Center for Law and Liberty (ACLL) has added plaintiffs in a March 2022 lawsuit stemming from Alabama’s COVID-19 lockdowns, 1819 News reported. According to a release from the ACLL, O’Dell Equipment Rental, LLC, and JoJo’s Mini Golf & Frozen Yogurt, both owned by Jonathan O’Dell, have been added to the Riccio v. Harris lawsuit that was filed in March against Gov. Kay Ivey and State Health Officer Dr. Scott Harris. On March 19, the ACLL filed suit on behalf of Saranne Riccio and her business, Uncorked Providence, which also went out of business after the lockdowns. The suit claims that, after COVID hit in March of 2020, the lockdowns imposed by Ivey and Harris forced JoJo’s to close its doors because it was considered a “nonessential” business. It was shut down until May, and then only at half capacity. “JoJo’s was subject to that order until November 2020,” the release read. “These orders resulted in JoJo’s losing over 77% of its revenue, and it was forced to close in December of 2020. O’Dell was also forced to sign JoJo’s property back over to the bank.” “This suit is about three things: compensating our clients for their losses, holding our government accountable for its actions, and defending the principle of separation of powers.” ACLL President Matt Clark stated. “Dr. Harris and Gov. Ivey ran the state for an entire year without any meaningful input from the legislature. Just as taxation without representation was a major grievance of the American Founders, ‘shutdown without representation’ is the major grievance in this suit. The Alabama constitution gives the legislative branch the authority to make the law and the executive branch the authority to execute the law. When the two powers are combined in the executive branch, people get hurt, as our clients’ case demonstrates.” Other lawsuits have been filed against Harris and Ivey, including one lawsuit filed by seven Alabama residents. The group is represented by former Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore and The Foundation for Moral Law. Their suit claims the two abused their power to impose Covid restrictions. “The Governor and State Health Officer of this State have clearly and repeatedly exceeded their authority under both the Constitution of the United States and the Alabama Constitution over the last six months,” Moore stated. “Unconstitutional restriction of church assembly and worship, discriminatory closing of businesses, stay at home orders, social distancing, wearing of masks, and restriction on travel are simply against our rights secured by the Constitution of the United States.” “Because the legislature failed in 2020 and 2021 to rebalance the powers of the legislature and the executive, and since Gov. Ivey views the people’s representatives as a ‘herd of turtles’ unworthy of a vote, the people have no other choice than to resort to the courts to ensure that something like this never happens again,” Clark stated. “Suits in Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania have resulted in successful precedents holding that, even in a pandemic, the executive branch’s authority is still limited. We hope that the Alabama courts will agree.”
John Merrill creates new bipartisan Voter Fraud Reform Task Force
Secretary of State John Merrill announced yesterday the formation of a Voter Fraud Reform Task Force. The task force will consist of 15 members, including the Secretary of State as the Chairman. The group will meet on September 30, 2021, from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. at the Alabama State House in Room 123 on 11 South Union Street in Montgomery. The meeting will be open to the general public. Secretary Merrill stated, “We believe it is necessary to examine how we define voter fraud in our state and the penalties we assess for voter fraud violations. It is important to note that we assembled a team of respected Alabamians from diverse backgrounds and political persuasions. “If or when instances of voter fraud are identified, we want to investigate each reported case, and if it is warranted, seek an indictment and then ensure that all guilty parties are convicted after a successful prosecution. However, we believe that it is important to ensure that any individual convicted of voter fraud is punished in an appropriate way and in accordance with the Constitution, as well as state and federal laws.” Earlier this week, Sec. Merrill met with MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell. Lindell, who is currently being sued by Dominion Voting Systems, has been traveling the country in an effort to prove the 2020 election was stolen from Donald Trump by computer manipulation, Al.com reported. In a video posted online, Lindell said while Alabama is a “role model as to how elections should go,” its voting system was “hacked…just like every other state,” possibly by accessing machines remotely through Bluetooth technology. Lindell claims 100,000 votes were changed in Alabama, although he did not offer any evidence of his claims. Merrill said Lindell is expected to return to Alabama to examine the equipment and talk to probate judges. Lindell bought a copy of Alabama’s voting rolls for $30,000. For the 2020 election in Alabama, roughly 2.3 million votes were cast for Donald Trump (1,441,170) and Joe Biden (849,624). Merrill said that’s not possible, telling Al.com, “All our (voting) machines are custom-built. There’s no modem component. You can’t influence them through a cell phone or a landline. There’s no way they can be probed or numbers manipulated.” Merrill said Lindell is expected to return to Alabama to examine the equipment and talk to probate judges. Merrill posted on Twitter, “Last night I was excited to talk to Josh Marcus of The @Independent, which is a media outlet in the United Kingdom! I was happy to talk to him about our successful administration of the 2020 general election and how we continue to make it #EasyToVoteAndHardToCheat in Alabama!” Originally tweeted by John Merrill (@JohnHMerrill) on September 23, 2021. The members of the task force are Secretary of State John H. Merrill, Senator Sam Givhan (R), Senator Bobby Singleton (D), Representative Matt Simpson (R), Representative Merika Coleman (D), Bullock County Probate Judge James Tatum, Houston County Circuit Clerk Carla Woodall, Montgomery County Sheriff Derek Cunningham, District Attorney for the Fourth Judicial Circuit Michael Jackson, Reid Harris of the Attorney General’s Office, retired Circuit Judge John England, Matt Clark of the Alabama Policy Institute, Southern Poverty Law Center founder Morris Dees, Lu Rivera of Eagle Forum, and Dillon Nettles of the American Civil Liberties Union.
Mayor Steven Reed pushes ordinance opponents say infringe on business, property, and religious rights
In June, Montgomery Mayor Steven Reed’s office unveiled plans to create a law to protect LGBTQ residents from discrimination. However, the move to ban discrimination against LGBTQ people in Montgomery has expanded into a wider non-discrimination ordinance, and it’s being delayed by pushback that city officials blame on misinformation, Montgomery Advertiser reported. According to the mayor’s office, the ordinance would ban discrimination based on “real or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, disability, marital status, familial status, or veteran status.” Specifically, it would make it illegal to discriminate against any of those groups in the areas of public accommodation, housing, employment, and in all city practices, including contracting. In August, members of the public were allowed to address the council on non-agenda items for the first time since March 2020. Multiple speakers have lobbied against the ordinance. Matt Clark of the conservative Alabama Center for Law and Liberty warned the council that voting for the ordinance would force their Christian residents to become criminals because their faith would require them to break the non-discrimination law. In a recent op-ed, Clark wrote, “Because it defines gender identity as “the actual or perceived gender-related identity, expression, appearance, or mannerisms, or other gender-related characteristics of an individual,” an establishment cannot question whether an individual is actually transgender if that person merely expresses, appears, or acts that way. Consequently, to gain access to women’s restrooms, locker rooms, or showers, a sexual predator will merely have to act like he is transgender. For all its claims about wanting to protect the weak, liberalism is alarmingly willing to subject women and children to severe trauma.” Reed said the ordinance remains a priority and that he hopes it will pass. “It’s important to make sure we’re in line with our principles and values that we say we profess as the birthplace of the civil rights movement,” Reed stated. “We also want to make sure that we’re doing things in the fashion of the new Montgomery that we want to be. That means making sure that we consider and pass ordinances like this that are not only integral to the quality of place that we have right now, but the quality of the city that we want to become.”
