Hubbard apologizes, seeks early release from prison
Former House Speaker Mike Hubbard in a Friday court filing apologized for his ethics conviction that he said hurt the state and his family as his attorney filed a request for his early release after serving one year of a 28-month sentence. Hubbard’s attorney argued his sentence of over two years behind bars is out of line with punishments handed down to other officials convicted of violating the state ethics law. In a letter to the judge, Hubbard wrote that “I recognize and admit my errors” and apologized to the people of the state and others. “My conviction has severely damaged and embarrassed me and my family, friends, former constituents, community, church, the legislature, and the state of Alabama. For this, I am severely sorry and respectfully ask forgiveness from everyone affected,” Hubbard wrote in the letter to Lee County Circuit Judge Jacob Walker. He wrote that it was embarrassing to be convicted of violating an ethics law he oversaw being drafted and approved by lawmakers. Whether a criminal defendant has accepted responsibility and expressed remorse is often a factor when a judge weighs a request for leniency. A jury in 2016 convicted Hubbard of violating the state ethics law, including using his public office for personal financial gain. Prosecutors accused Hubbard of leveraging his powerful public office to obtain clients and investments for his businesses, violating the prohibition against giving a “thing of value” to an elected official. His defense maintained the contracts were legitimate work and unrelated to his position as House speaker. In upholding the conviction this spring, justices noted that when contacting a company for one client, Hubbard “identified himself as a state legislator and as Speaker of the House of Representatives.” They also noted how one company executive wrote in an email that Hubbard could get the company, “in front of any speaker in the country regardless of party.” The Republican was one of the state’s most powerful politicians until the ethics conviction in a corruption case ended his political career. Hubbard, the architect of the GOP’s takeover of the Alabama Legislature in 2010, was a legislator from Auburn and former chairman of the Alabama Republican Party. He was elected House speaker soon after Republicans won control of both legislative chambers. Hubbard was automatically removed from office after his 2016 felony conviction. Hubbard was originally sentenced to 48 months behind bars, but that was reduced after some counts against him were overturned on appeal. His attorney argued the 28-month sentence is well “outside the overwhelming majority of the similarly-situated individuals” that have been convicted in state court of state ethics violations, and listed sentences of other elected officials convicted in state court. However, former Gov. Don Siegelman served six years in federal prison after being convicted in 2006 on charges that he sold a seat on a state regulatory board to HealthSouth founder Richard Scrushy in exchange for $500,000 in donations to Siegelman’s signature political issue — his 1999 campaign to establish a state lottery. Siegelman was convicted on a separate obstruction of justice charge that he tried to hide money he received from a lobbyist. Siegelman was released in 2017. He has regained his law license and says he plans to focus on criminal justice issues. Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
Speaker Mac McCutcheon won’t seek reelection in 2022
Alabama House Speaker Mac McCutcheon said Monday he will not seek reelection next year. McCutcheon, 68, said in a statement that he is stepping away from politics to spend time with his family and to do some traveling with his wife during retirement. “It’s been an honor and a privilege to represent the people of District 25 in the House and the citizens of the State of Alabama as speaker, but after four terms it’s time to go home,” McCutcheon said. McCutcheon, a Republican from Monrovia, is a former police officer and crisis negotiator. He was first elected to the House in 2006. He served as the chairman of the influential House Rules Committee, which decides what bills come up for debate, from 2012 to 2016. McCutcheon came to the helm of the House at a time that the state was being battered by scandals. McCutcheon was selected as speaker in 2016 to replace former House Speaker Mike Hubbard, who was removed from office after being convicted on ethics charges. McCutcheon, known for his affable demeanor, had promised to depart from the authoritative style of his predecessor. “The days of the imperial speakership are over,” McCutcheon said at the time. House Majority Leader Nathaniel Ledbetter, R-Rainsville, said McCutcheon had restored stability to the speaker’s office. “Combining a firm hand with a kind heart, he worked to ensure that the voices of all members — regardless of rank or party affiliation — were given the opportunity to be heard,” Ledbetter said. Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey said people should be proud of McCutcheon. “Not only has he worked hard for Alabama, Mac is simply a good guy,” Ivey said. McCutcheon’s tenure still saw its own controversy. In 2017, the House of Representatives began impeachment hearings against then-Gov. Robert Bentley. Bentley later resigned. McCutcheon said he had quietly warned Bentley in a “friend-to-friend” meeting that there were enough votes in the House to impeach him. With McCutcheon as speaker the GOP-dominated House of Representatives continued to push a socially conservative and pro-business agenda. Lawmakers in 2019 passed legislation what was then the most stringent abortion legislation in the nation, making performing an abortion a felony including in cases of rape and incest. The law was blocked by a federal judge. However, House Minority Leader Anthony Daniels, D-Huntsville, who serves in the same local delegation as McCutcheon, said he thought the last legislative session was one of the most successful during his time in Montgomery. McCutcheon said he is proudest of working with House members. “I have nothing but respect and admiration for every member of the House,” McCutcheon said. “We’ve had our political disagreements, but it was never personal, and I will treasure my days in the House for the rest of my life,” McCutcheon said. A new speaker will be selected in the organizational session in 2023.
Pandemic deaths and economic fallout are top Alabama story
A biological threat that once seemed far removed from Alabama dominated both state news and everyday life like nothing else in 2020. The coronavirus pandemic was the state’s top news story of the year, and its effects will linger into the New Year and beyond. Here is a look at that and other Top 10 Alabama news stories of the year: CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC A pandemic that spread waves of death and misery across the globe killed more than 4,100 people in Alabama, sickened thousands more and ravaged the state’s economy like nothing else in decades. A springtime of school closings and business shutdowns was followed by months of mask-wearing and social distancing. A midsummer surge in cases eased, but that was followed by a fall spike that health experts say will keep killing people at least into 2021. Unemployment dropped after hitting a high of 12.9% in April, when nearly 217,000 people lost their jobs statewide. Yet the prospects for continuing improvement could be tied to how well people heed health precautions and the success of a vaccination program that is just beginning. SENATE ELECTION Republican Tommy Tuberville reasserted the GOP’s lock grip on Alabama by defeating Democratic Sen. Doug Jones after stopping a comeback bid by Jeff Sessions for the party’s nomination. Faced with a crowded primary field that included President Donald Trump’s first attorney general, the retired football coach emerged from a runoff against Sessions to run a campaign that consisted of embracing Trump at all turns. The tactic worked to perfection in deeply conservative Alabama: Tuberville trounced Jones in November to oust the only state Democrat holding statewide office. RACIAL RECKONING The fallout from a police killing hundreds of miles away from Alabama helped erase vestiges of the state’s white supremacist past with stunning swiftness. Confederate monuments were removed and college buildings were renamed following the police killing of George Floyd in Minnesota. A night of violence after a demonstration in Birmingham set the stage for the removal of an obelisk honoring Confederate soldiers and sailors. Monuments also came down in Mobile, Montgomery, and Huntsville, and protests were held elsewhere. The Alabama Department of Archives and History acknowledged its past role in perpetuating racism and so-called lost cause ideals in a sign of systemic change that once seemed unlikely. ALABAMA PRISONS Longstanding complaints over violence, dilapidated buildings, and inadequate care in Alabama’s prisons resulted in a Justice Department lawsuit claiming men’s lockups are so bad they violate the constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment. Calling the state’s prison system one of the most understaffed and violent in the nation, the department asked a court to require unspecified changes to improve conditions. The court fight will last at least into 2021, as Alabama said it plans a vigorous defense in court. The state also is moving ahead with a $900 million plan to have companies build three new, giant prisons that will be leased by Corrections. TROPICAL WEATHER Hurricane Sally blasted the Alabama coast, leaving widespread damage and knocking out power for weeks in some areas, during a record-setting year of tropical weather. Sally made landfall as a Category 2 storm at Gulf Shores on Sept. 16, pummeling the coast with fierce winds and as much as 30 inches (76 centimeters) of rain. Officials said the damage was worse in places than from Hurricane Ivan, which landed a direct hit on the same area in 2004. Crews spent weeks removing mountains of debris that lined roadsides. The hurricane season was so busy forecasters had to turn to the Greek alphabet after running out of assigned names. JOHN LEWIS Alabama native and longtime U.S. Rep. John Lewis was honored with events in Troy, Selma, and Montgomery following his death at age 80 in July. A wagon drawn by two horses carried Lewis’ body across Selma’s Edmund Pettus Bridge, where he and other voting rights marchers were attacked by Alabama state troopers in 1965. A long line of people later waited to pay respects to Lewis as he was honored at Alabama’s Capitol. A native of rural Pike County near Troy, Lewis had moved to Georgia and represented Atlanta in Congress for decades. DEADLY MARINA FIRE Eight people were killed in a horrific fire that swept through a north Alabama marina near the Tennessee River in Scottsboro. The January blaze at Jackson County Park Marina began in the middle of the night and quickly engulfed a dock where people who lived aboard boats were sleeping. Five children and teens were among the dead, and the victims included six members of one family. The fire was later determined to be an accident, but a federal report said it was worsened by the marina’s “limited fire safety practices.” HUBBARD REPORTS TO PRISON The long saga of disgraced Alabama House Speaker Mike Hubbard finally ended behind bars. The one-time Republican leader reported to prison in September four years after jurors convicted him of ethics violations. Then a judge reduced Hubbard’s sentence from four years to 28 months at the request of the defense after part of his conviction was overturned earlier this year. Prosecutors accused Hubbard of leveraging his powerful Statehouse office to obtain clients and investments for his private businesses, and he was automatically removed from office when he was found guilty in 2016. Six of his 12 felony convictions were thrown out on appeal. DEMOCRATIC FIGHT A lawsuit for control of the Alabama Democratic Party ended with new leadership but the same old results. Long given up for dead in a reliably red state, the party found itself at the center of a court fight over control of the organization in late 2019. The battle ended in February when a judge dismissed the lawsuit filed by longtime leader Nancy Worley to prevent the new party chair, state Rep. Chris England, from taking control. Newly invigorated, the party fielded a slate of candidates with hopes of winning new seats in the November election. Instead, Democrats didn’t claim any new statewide offices and lost the one they had when Sen. Doug Jones lost to Republican Tommy Tuberville. CLOTILDA The state committed to spend $1 million to preserve the
Steve Marshall slams Lee County Judge Jacob Walker for reducing Mike Hubbard sentence
A judge on Wednesday slashed former House Speaker Mike Hubbard’s prison sentence from four years to 28 months, significantly reducing the time the once-powerful Republican will spend behind bars for an ethics conviction. Lee County Circuit Judge Jacob Walker reduced Hubbard’s sentence at the request of defense attorneys after part of his conviction was overturned earlier this year. In his order, Walker noted that Hubbard was convicted of 12 felonies when he handed down the four-year sentence, but that six counts were reversed on appeal. The action was met with swift criticism from Alabama’s attorney general and praise from Hubbard’s attorney who had argued a four-year sentence was too harsh for the reduced conviction. “While we were hoping for a more substantial reduction of sentence, we welcome this decision. We are grateful for Judge Walker’s recognition of the issues that prompted his action today,” attorney Lance Bell said in a statement. Attorney General Steve Marshall expressed disappointment in the sentence reduction. “Mr. Hubbard was convicted of the intentional violation of Alabama’s ethics laws, the same laws he championed in the legislature only later to brazenly disregard for his personal enrichment,” Marshall said in a statement. “Even as he sits in state prison as a six-time felon, Mike Hubbard continues to deny any guilt or offer any remorse for his actions in violation of the law. Reducing his original four-year sentence sends precisely the wrong message to would-be violators of Alabama’s ethics laws.” A jury in 2016 convicted Hubbard of violating the state ethics law, including using his public office for personal financial gain. Prosecutors accused Hubbard of leveraging his powerful public office to obtain clients and investments for his businesses, violating the prohibition against giving a “thing of value” to an elected official. His defense maintained the contracts were legitimate work and unrelated to his position as House speaker. In upholding the conviction this spring, justices noted that when contacting a company for one client, Hubbard “identified himself as a state legislator and as Speaker of the House of Representatives.” They also noted how one company executive wrote in an email that Hubbard could get the company, “in front of any speaker in the country regardless of party.” The Republican was one of the state’s most powerful politicians until the ethics conviction in a corruption case ended his political career. Hubbard, the architect of the GOP’s takeover of the Alabama Legislature in 2010, was a legislator from Auburn and former chairman of the Alabama Republican Party. He was elected House speaker soon after Republicans won control of both legislative chambers. Hubbard was automatically removed from office after his 2016 felony conviction. Hubbard reported to jail in September and was later moved into the state prison system. He is currently incarcerated at Limestone Correctional Facility. Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
Personel Update: Reshad Hudson to be a national correspondent for Nexstar
Alabama state capitol reporter Reshad Hudson will be moving to Washington, D.C. bureau in November to work as a national correspondent for Nexstar. While there, he will be covering Congress and the White House. Hudson graduated from the University of Alabama with degrees in broadcast journalism and political science. While in Montgomery he covered Alabama legislature and managed to score several key interviews with Kay Ivey. He covered the removal of former Speaker of the House Mike Hubbard and former Alabama Supreme Court Justice Roy Moore. CBS 42 news director Rob Martin stated, “Reshad helped establish the company’s first state capitol bureau in Alabama. Reshad quickly went to work making contacts with the governor, attorney general, and other state agencies. Exclusive interviews with Governor Ivey, breaking stories out of the Legislature, and top-notch campaign coverage are just a few of the stories successfully reported. He has also paved the way for our next bureau reporter to be well established. Good news for us, we can air Reshad’s Washington stories.” Hudson made the announcement on his Twitter page, stating, “I have my own October surprise! This Bama native is moving to DC in Nov. to be a reporter in Nexstar’s Washington Bureau covering Congress and the White House. I could not think of a better time to be working in the most important Capitol in the world.” I have my own October surprise! This Bama native is moving to DC in Nov. to be a reporter in Nexstar’s Washington Bureau covering Congress and the White House. I could not think of a better time to be working in the most important Capitol in the world.https://t.co/l9yETM27zX — Reshad Hudson (@ReshadHudson) October 27, 2020
Alabama prosecutors oppose jailed speaker’s bid for leniency
Responding to a bid from Hubbard to lessen his punishment, the attorney general’s office argued in a court document filed Tuesday that the one-time Republican leader is a danger to society and should remain behind bars.
Mike Hubbard reports to begin prison sentence
Hubbard reported to the Lee County Detention Center in Opelika to begin his four-year sentence.
Auburn renames Mike Hubbard Blvd as state awaits the day he reports to prison
The road Mike Hubbard takes to jail won’t have his name on it.
Steve Flowers: Mike Hubbard conviction finally upheld
It looks like Mike Hubbard’s day of reckoning may be coming near.
Mike Hubbard asks Supreme Court to reconsider ethics conviction
The Alabama Supreme Court last month overturned five of the ethics convictions while upholding six others.
Auburn discusses changing road name from convicted ex-speaker
Mike Hubbard requested the name change in a letter.
What they’re saying: Alabama reacts to ruling in Mike Hubbard appeal
On Friday, the Alabama Supreme Court upheld six ethics convictions against former Alabama Speaker Mike Hubbard while simultaneously reversing conviction on five other charges. On June 10, 2016, Hubbard was convicted on 12 of 23 counts of corruption, which automatically removed the powerful Republican from both the Legislature and the speaker’s office, ending the upward trajectory of the one-time GOP star whose career previously appeared to have no limits. He was later sentenced to a total of four years in prison and eight years on probation, and ordered to pay a $210,000 fine. In June 2019 Hubbard asked the Alabama Supreme Court to overturn his conviction. Here’s what Alabama politicians are saying of the Alabama Supreme Court’s decision: Governor Kay Ivey: “Today’s ruling from the Alabama Supreme Court is the culmination of four years of deliberation, and I support and accept their findings. As an elected official, our first priority is to be above reproach and avoid even the appearance of misconduct and abuse of office. “I support seeking clarity on our state’s ethics laws to ensure those who want to abide by them may not be unfairly targeted. However, let me be abundantly clear, I do not support weakening a system that is meant to hold our elected officials accountable. The rule of law must be upheld. “Even more so on this Good Friday, my thoughts and prayers are on Mike Hubbard’s family and upon our state as we move on from this unfortunate part of Alabama’s history.” Alabama House Speaker Mac McCutcheon: “The Supreme Court’s ruling has made it clear that our ethics law has flaws that must be addressed. Our task now is to fix those flaws without weakening any of the provisions that make our ethics law among the toughest in the country. “As a former police officer, I believe that strict ethics requirements offer a much needed deterrent to corruption. By following the roadmap suggested by the State Supreme Court, we can preserve that deterrent while firmly holding those who abuse their office accountable for their actions.”
