J. Pepper Bryars: Alabama must build more prisons but taxpayers don’t have to foot the bill
Vicious assault. Brutal rape. Cold-blooded murder. These are some of the crimes that will get you thrown into prison, but what if they’re also what could happen to you once you get there? Sadly, a federal investigation found this is happening in Alabama’s prison system, and part of the problem is we’ve simply run out of room. “Our investigation revealed that an excessive amount of violence, sexual abuse, and prisoner deaths occur within Alabama’s prisons on a regular basis,” wrote the authors of the report from the U.S. Department of Justice, adding that that one of the major factors is “severe overcrowding” and that the state doesn’t “provide adequate humane conditions of confinement.” “These are human beings,” said one mother of an inmate who was repeatedly threatened with violence at the state prison near Atmore. “I feel like our society is getting too numb when it comes to human lives.” Alabama’s prison system was designed for about 9,900 inmates but it’s currently holding more than 16,000 – an occupancy rate of more than 165 percent, according to data published by the Alabama Department of Corrections. It gets worse in some places. The investigation found that the medium-security prison in Elmore County was at 272 percent occupancy, holding nearly 1,400 inmates in a facility designed to hold about 500. And Kilby Correctional Facility outside Montgomery was designed to hold 440 but currently has more than three times that amount. While some were shocked by the details shared in the federal report and the graphic pictures from inside our prisons that were leaked to the press, others remain unconcerned. Alabama is a law-and-order state whose people believe in the adage that “if you do the crime, you do the time.” And a recent survey from the Public Affairs Research Council of Alabama found that a slight majority of us disagree with plans to build more prisons. But here’s the problem: if Alabama doesn’t get its act together than a federal court has said it may find us in violation of the Eighth Amendment and will force us to release thousands of these inmates before their sentences are complete. Do we really want that to happen? Of course not, and that’s why the Alabama Policy Institute has begun organizing with a coalition of concerned individuals and organizations who seek to promote, among other reforms, the construction of three new state-of-the-art prisons. The Ivey Administration released plans earlier this year calling for one facility to be a centralized location for medical and mental health care, housing for older inmates, and where prisoners first enter the system. It could house nearly 4,000 inmates. The other two would hold a little more than 3,000 prisoners each. Here’s the best part: Under the plan as currently proposed we wouldn’t have to raise taxes. Estimates show it’d cost $900 million, but through a creative public-private partnership, developers would fund construction up-front and then the state would lease the facilities for up to $78 million annually. That money would come from savings realized by consolidating services and closing old facilities that are expensive to maintain. “Alabama truly does have a major problem with our overcrowding of our prisons,” Gov. Kay Ivey said. “And it’s a challenge we Alabamians must solve, not the federal courts.” This plan would go a long way in meeting not only our constitutional responsibilities but our moral obligations, as well. The vast majority of Alabamians profess to be Christians, and as written in the thirteenth chapter of Hebrews, we’re called to be “as mindful of prisoners as if you were sharing their imprisonment.” When our State Legislature convenes early next year for what’s expected to be a special session to address prison reform, Alabamians should ask ourselves if we are honestly living up to that standard. And if we aren’t, it’s time to do something about it. J. Pepper Bryars is a senior fellow at the Alabama Policy Institute and host of the 1819 podcast. Follow him on Twitter at @jpepperbryars.
Conservative religious leader says Jeff Sessions no longer has evangelical support
One of the top conservative evangelical leaders in the nation is urging President Donald Trump to fire Attorney General Jeff Sessions. On Monday, POLITICO reported that Jerry Falwell Jr.,a lawyer and President of Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va., urged Trump to fire Sessions. “He really is not on the president’s team, never was,” Falwell toldPolitico. “He’s wanted to be attorney general for many, many years. I have a feeling he took a gamble and supported the president because he knew he would reward loyalty.” Sessions has long been a supporter of conservative evangelicals, going so far as to launch a religious liberty task force within the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) in July, citing a “dangerous movement” to erode religious freedom in America. “A dangerous movement, undetected by many, is now challenging and eroding our great tradition of religious freedom. There can be no doubt. This is no little matter. It must be confronted and defeated,” Sessions told attendees of the Department of Justice’s Religious Liberty Summit. But Sessions “has angered Trump loyalists more recently because the Justice Department has not declassified all materials sought by Republicans in regard to the Russia investigation,” Politico reported. “The president believes Sessions, who recused himself from the Russia probe because of his involvement in the 2016 campaign, has failed to rein in a probe that Trump claims is driven by politics.” Last week, Trump fired several barbs at Sessions, telling Fox news channel’s “Fox & Friends” that Sessions “took the job and then he said, ‘I’m going to recuse myself.” “[He] never took control of the Justice Department and it’s a sort of an incredible thing,” Trump continued. Sessions then fired back at the president, saying that the DOJ would not be “improperly influenced by political considerations.” “A lot of Republicans pretend to be friends to conservatives and the faith community for decades when they really were not,” Falwell continued to tell Politico. “I don’t know if he’s in that category. If he was really a fair person, he’d be going after both sides.”
Jeff Sessions creates national religious freedom task force
U.S. Attorney General, and former Alabama U.S. Senator, Jeff Sessions announced the creation of a religious liberty task force within the U.S. Department of Justice on Monday, citing a “dangerous movement” to erode religious freedom in America. “A dangerous movement, undetected by many, is now challenging and eroding our great tradition of religious freedom. There can be no doubt. This is no little matter. It must be confronted and defeated,”Sessions told attendees of the Department of Justice’s Religious Liberty Summit. “This election, and much that has flowed from it, gives us a rare opportunity to arrest these trends. Such a reversal will not just be done with electoral victories, but by intellectual victories.” “Freedom of religion has been a core American principle from the very beginning of our country – indeed, it is our ‘first freedom.’” Sessions continued. “President Trump promised that he would make preserving and protecting our religious liberty the first priority of his administration. The Department of Justice is committed to assisting with that effort.” The task force will implement “religious liberty guidance” by ensuring all elements of the justice department are holding to the same religious freedom standards in individual cases, policies, regulations and in the operations of the department. Sessions said he will be joined by acting Associate Attorney General Jesse Panuccio and Assistant Attorney General Beth Williams, as co-chairs of the task force. In October, Sessions issued two memoranda within the DOJ; the Religious Liberty Memorandum and the Implementation Memorandum both aimed at protecting and implementing religious freedom practices within the department. The new task force will aid the DOJ’s efforts to implement the memoranda. “As the people in this room know, you have to practice what you preach,” Sessions continued in his speech on Monday. “We are also going to remain in contact with religious groups across America to ensure that their rights are being protected. We have been holding listening sessions and we will continue to host them in the coming weeks.”
DOJ lifts secrecy on foreign lobbying opinions
The Justice Department is opening up about the advice it has given to lobbyists who work for foreign governments and political interests. For the first time, the public will be able to read advisory opinions the department has issued to lobbyists, public relations professionals and others about whether they need to register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, or FARA. The department had kept the opinions secret for decades, a point of contention for transparency advocates and lawyers who specialize in advising clients on complying with the law. The opinions provide an unprecedented view into the thinking of a specialized Justice Department unit whose influence has grown in recent years, propelled by more aggressive enforcement and a special counsel investigation focused on foreign influence operations inside the U.S. The Associated Press obtained copies of dozens of opinions, which were to be posted online later Friday. Those who have requested the department’s guidance include a television host who worked for a company with foreign connections, people negotiating with other governments over the release of prisoners and a firm that planned a U.S. fundraiser for a politician in another country. The department removed the names and other identifying details from the opinions to allow for their public release. In disclosing the opinions, Justice Department officials say they want the public to better understand how they interpret a decades-old law meant to allow Americans to know when foreign entities are trying to influence public opinion or policymakers. The law, enacted in 1938 to unmask Nazi propaganda in the United States, requires people to disclose to the Justice Department when they advocate, lobby or perform public relations work in the U.S. on behalf of a foreign government or political entity. “Today is the law’s 80th anniversary, and it remains a vital tool to combat this threat,” Assistant Attorney General John Demers, the department’s top national security official, said in a statement. “To enhance compliance, we are making these advisory opinions available publicly and online for the first time. By posting these advisory opinions, the Department of Justice is making clearer how we interpret some of FARA’s key provisions.” The heightened enforcement and some high-profile registrations have coincided with special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation. In the last two years alone, President Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, and former White House national security adviser Michael Flynn have had to register under the law, as has Tony Podesta, a top Democratic lobbyist and brother of Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman. Manafort is set to go to trial later this year on charges that he concealed his lobbying and influence work on behalf of Ukrainian interests, including a pro-Russian political party. The Justice Department also required the U.S.-based operations of RT, an international television network funded by the Russian government, to register as a foreign agent, a move that angered Russian leaders late last year. U.S. intelligence agencies have alleged RT functioned as a propaganda outlet for the Kremlin as part of an effort to interfere in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. The opinions obtained by the AP show the wide array of requests the Justice Department receives from people and companies trying to determine if they’re obligated to register. In August 2015, for instance, the department determined that a U.S. firm would have to register as a foreign agent if it wanted to host a fundraiser for a candidate running for president in another country. Last February, though, lawyers told a consultant for a foreign government that registration was unnecessary because the work was being done almost entirely outside the United States. That same month, a U.S. organization coordinating with foreign governments in the release of prisoners abroad was told it wouldn’t need to register because the work was humanitarian in nature and not funded by foreign money. Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
Donald Trump appoints victims’ advocate from Alabama to DOJ office
President Donald Trump is naming a well-known victims’ advocate from Alabama to head the office for victims of crime within the U.S. Department of Justice. Trump this week announced his intent to appoint Darlene Hutchinson Biehl of Alabama to be the director of the office. Hutchinson Biehl has been an advocate for victims for more than 20 years and has worked on legislation and state policies and working directly with victims’ families. She was abducted at gunpoint by a stranger at age 20, but was able to escape her kidnapper on the second day of the ordeal. Hutchinson Biehl is a chapter president for the Victims of Crime and Leniency. She is a native of St. Petersburg, Florida. She holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Troy State University. Republished with permission of The Associarted Press.
Fed lawyers deciding next step in Donald Trump travel ban fight
Government lawyers fighting to defend President Donald Trump‘s executive order on immigration said Friday that “all options” are being considered after a federal appeals court ruled against the president’s ban on travelers from seven predominantly Muslim nations. A Justice Department lawyer who spoke at a hearing in Virginia said the administration was weighing whether to challenge a 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that upheld a temporary block on Trump’s ban, saying it was unlikely to survive a legal challenge. “We may appeal. We may not,” attorney Erez Reuveni said. “All options are being considered.” It could appeal the restraining order on Trump’s travel ban to the U.S. Supreme Court or it could attempt to remake the case in the district court. Reuveni was appearing at a hearing before Judge Leonie Brinkema at which the state of Virginia was challenging the ban. The judge did not rule. She noted that “the status quo remains” because of the 9th circuit’s decision and suggested that a well-reasoned ruling would take time and could not be written “overnight.” Michael Kelly, a spokesman for Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring, said Friday’s hearing in a federal court in a Washington, D.C., suburb posed the most significant state challenge yet to Trump’s order. In a statement, he said it “will be the most in-depth examination of the merits of the arguments against the ban.” Lawyers for Herring, a Democrat, are asking the judge for a preliminary injunction barring the Trump administration from enforcing that portion of the Jan. 27 executive order that bars anyone from those countries — Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen — from entering the U.S. for 90 days. The state is not challenging that portion of Trump’s order suspending entry of refugees for four months. “If the Commonwealth is successful in securing a preliminary injunction, it would indicate that Virginia is likely to prevail on the merits of its challenge to President Trump’s ban, and it will be a more durable injunction that will last all the way through trial — so potentially weeks or months,” Kelly wrote. In a court document filed ahead of the hearing, Virginia’s lawyers challenge the constitutionality of the executive order and say there is “overwhelming evidence” that the executive order “resulted from animus toward Muslims.” Virginia also says the state, its residents and its public universities are harmed. One example it gives: university students and faculty from countries named in the executive order who are in the U.S. on work or student visas can’t leave for fear of not being allowed back in. Until it was temporarily blocked by a federal judge in Seattle a week ago, the ban made headlines amid tearful stories of families separated and lives upended. Among them were two Yemeni brothers whose family sued in Virginia before the brothers, both green card holders, were allowed back into the country. The federal government has since said green card holders will not be barred from re-entering the U.S. In the specific Virginia challenge, lawyers for the federal government wrote in a court filing opposing a preliminary injunction that Virginia doesn’t have the right to challenge the ban — and that the court doesn’t have the power to review the president’s executive order. “Judicial second-guessing of the President’s determination that a temporary suspension of entry of certain classes of aliens was necessary at this time to protect national security would constitute an impermissible intrusion” on his constitutional authority, lawyers Dennis Barghaan and Reuveni wrote. Even if Virginia’s challenge is allowed to proceed, a preliminary injunction is not warranted, the U.S. government lawyers wrote. Republished with permission of The Associated Press.
AG Luther Strange announces nationwide injunction blocking White House transgender bathrooom policy
Monday morning Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange announced a U.S. judge has blocked the Obama administration guidance that transgender public school students must be allowed to use bathrooms of their gender “identity” — rather than their sex, or risk losing federal funding — granting a nationwide injunction sought by a group of 13 states, including Alabama. U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor has granted a preliminary, nationwide injunction in response to a lawsuit filed by Texas and a number of other states. In a decision late Sunday, O’Connor explained the Obama administration failed to follow proper procedures for notice and comment in issuing the guidelines. He also said the federal guidelines had the effect of law and contradict existing legislative and regulatory texts. “The court decision is a victory for parents and children all across Alabama,” said Attorney General Strange. “I joined the multi-state lawsuit against the Obama administration in May to prevent Alabama schools from being forced to surrender their restroom access policies to social experimenters in Washington. I am pleased the federal court has agreed to our request to stay the controversial order while our lawsuit challenging the legality of the transgender order continues.” On May 13, 2016, the U.S. Department of Education and U.S. Department of Justice jointly announced schools must allow students access to restrooms and locker rooms of their gender “identity” rather than their sex, or lose federal funding. On May 27, Strange advised the Alabama Board of Education, which governs K-12 public schools, that it did not have to follow the federal edict until the multi-state lawsuit is addressed in federal court. The 13 states that filed the lawsuit requesting the stay include Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, and Wisconsin. Status of Transgender “Bathroom Bill” Legislation | InsideGov You can read a copy of the entire stay here.
Alabama Senators Jeff Sessions, Richard Shelby slam Obama proposal to house illegal minors in Baldwin County
A flood of 38,566 illegal alien juveniles who have entered into the United States from Mexico have been apprehended through May — a 69 percent increase from 2015, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The stat was quoted Wednesday by Alabama’s U.S. Senators Jeff Sessions and Richard Shelby in a joint letter to three senior federal officials, stating “only a small fraction have been removed from the United States.” The letter, sent to Secretary Jeh Johnson of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Secretary Sylvia Burwell of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and Attorney General Loretta Lynch of the U.S. Justice Department, states the Senators’ opposition to the Obama administration’s proposal to use two outlying airfields at Naval Air Station Whiting Field in Baldwin County as a potential location to house purportedly unaccompanied illegal alien juveniles. It also expresses their concerns about the administration’s handling of the increasing number of illegal juveniles crossing our southern border. “Transporting some of these juveniles more than 900 miles away from our southern border to the state of Alabama, instead of expeditiously and humanely sending them back to their homes, will only make the situation worse,” the letter reads. “It rewards illegal conduct, and arguably renders the United States complicit in criminal conspiracies to violate our immigration laws.” To make matters worse, they said roughly 91 percent of the illegal youths are released to their family members, many of whom are also in the United States illegally. “According to the Government Accountability Office, between January 7, 2014, and April 17, 2015, ORR released illegal alien juveniles from its custody to a parent in 60 percent of all cases, an aunt or uncle in 13 percent, a sibling in 12 percent, an ‘other relative’ in 3 percent, a first cousin in 2 percent, and a grandparent in 1 percent of all cases. Thus, in roughly 91 percent of all cases, these juveniles are eventually released to the custody of a family member located in the United States,” said the letter. They continued, “However, this administration has failed to take any enforcement action against these family members — most of whom had some role to play in the juveniles’ illegal entry into the United States. And many of those family members are present in the United States unlawfully.” Both senators have been longtime critics of President Barack Obama‘s immigration policies “Strong leadership and a commitment to the faithful execution of the laws on the books would convey a clear message to the world that if you come to the United States illegally, you will be removed. Rather than improve the current situation, administration policies have only made the situation worse,” they added. Read the full text of their letter below: Dear Secretary Johnson, Secretary Burwell, and Attorney General Lynch: We write to express our opposition to the evaluation by the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) of two outlying airfields at Naval Air Station Whiting Field as a potential location to house purportedly unaccompanied illegal alien juveniles, and to express our concerns about this Administration’s handling of the increasing number crossing our southern border. Just two years ago, President Obama sent a letter to Congress outlining his plans to handle the surge at our southern border. Two years later, it is clear that President Obama’s plans for handling the situation have failed. According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, 38,566 illegal alien juveniles have been apprehended through May – a 69 percent increase over last year, and a number surpassed only by the record number apprehended in FY 2014. Since the beginning of FY 2014, 147,077 have been apprehended, yet only a small fraction have been removed from the United States. Transporting some of these juveniles more than 900 miles away from our southern border to the State of Alabama, instead of expeditiously and humanely sending them back to their homes, will only make the situation worse. It rewards illegal conduct, and arguably renders the United States complicit in criminal conspiracies to violate our immigration laws. According to the Government Accountability Office, between January 7, 2014, and April 17, 2015, ORR released illegal alien juveniles from its custody to a parent in 60 percent of all cases, an aunt or uncle in 13 percent, a sibling in 12 percent, an “other relative” in 3 percent, a first cousin in 2 percent, and a grandparent in 1 percent of all cases. Thus, in roughly 91 percent of all cases, these juveniles are eventually released to the custody of a family member located in the United States. However, this Administration has failed to take any enforcement action against these family members – most of whom had some role to play in the juveniles’ illegal entry into the United States. And many of those family members are present in the United States unlawfully. The Administration continues to prevent the use of any of a number of commonsense tools to protect the integrity of our immigration system and the sovereignty of this nation. Moreover, the need for additional housing facilities is far from clear. Indeed, there seems to be some confusion on the part of the Administration as to whom the special processing procedures in the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008 (TVPRA) apply. Indeed, under a plain reading of the Act, many of the illegal alien juveniles apprehended could be expeditiously and humanely sent back to their homes – because they do not meet the definition of an “unaccompanied alien child.” Pursuant to the TVPRA, an “unaccompanied alien child” who is apprehended by the Department of Homeland Security must be transferred to the custody of the Department of Health and Human Services, which is then responsible for their care and custody. However, the TVPRA defines an “unaccompanied alien child” by cross-referencing section 462(g) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. § 279(g)), which defines an “unaccompanied alien child” as an individual who has no lawful immigration status in the United States, who is under 18, and with respect to whom “there is no parent or legal guardian in the
Alabama AG Luther Strange wants court to stop Obama transgender bathroom order before school begins
Alabama and a dozen other states are seeking an immediate stop to the Barack Obama Administration’s recent transgender bathrooms directive — that schools must allow students access to restrooms and locker rooms of their gender “identity,” rather than their sex, or lose federal funding — asking a federal judge to stall its implementation before the school year begins next month. Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange announced Tuesday Alabama joined in filing a preliminary injunction in U.S. District Court against the U.S. Department of Education, U.S. Justice Department, the U.S. Department of Labor and the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, for promoting a federal directive that local schools must allow transgender access to campus restrooms or face a loss of federal funds. In May, the Obama Administration issued the formal guidance in the form an eight-page joint U.S. Justice Department–U.S Department of Education directive telling every public school in the nation they must allow students to use bathrooms and locker rooms corresponding to their gender identity and not their biological sex. The directive read: “A school may provide separate facilities on the basis of sex, but must allow transgender students access to such facilities consistent with their gender identity. A school may not require transgender students to use facilities inconsistent with their gender identity or to use individual-user facilities when other students are not required to do so.” “On May 25, I joined a legal challenge to the Obama administration’s restroom mandate,” said AG Strange. “With schools nearing the beginning of a new year, time is short and school administrators need clarity about the impact of this controversial new order on their school systems. Alabama and the other states are asking the federal court to grant a preliminary injunction of the transgender restroom edict until the court has reached a decision on its legality.” Tuesday’s request, if approved, would affect not only Alabama and the 12 other states who filed, but all public schools across the country. Strange continued, “I believe Alabama and the other states will ultimately prevail in federal court against the new restroom order because federal law allows schools to have separate facilities based on the ‘sex’ of the individual, not their gender preference.” Alabama joined Texas, Arizona, Georgia, Kentucky Louisiana, Maine, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Utah, West Virginia and Wisconsin in filing the motion for a preliminary injunction Tuesday.
Federal officials seek to dismiss Robert Bentley refugee lawsuit
The federal government is asking a judge to dismiss Alabama’s lawsuit over refugee settlement, saying states have no “veto power” over refugee placement decisions. Lawyers with the U.S. Department of Justice filed the motion Tuesday in Birmingham federal court seeking an end to the lawsuit filed by Gov. Robert Bentley. Federal officials say refugee resettlement is a federal decision, and that the state isn’t entitled to pick and choose which refugees locate in the state. Bentley sued federal officials earlier this year. The lawsuit asks a judge to require the federal government to provide the state with the entire government file on refugees who have been or will be settled in Alabama. The suit asks a court to block any future settlement until the information is handed over. Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
House members request federal probe into Mike Hubbard ethics trial
More than 35 Alabama legislators, both Republican and Democrat, have signed on to a letter urging U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch and U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Alabama George Beck to open a U.S. Department of Justice investigation into aspects of House Speaker Mike Hubbard‘s ethics trial. According to the letter, Miles M. “Matt” Hart, an attorney in the office of Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange, has been allowed to “improperly use a grand jury” in efforts against Hubbard. Further, the letter claims that Hart has provided “selective information” commandeered through the grand jury to a political opponent of Hubbard. The letter lays out a twisted tale of corruption based on testimony from attorney Baron Coleman. Coleman was an organizer and consultant with the campaign of Sandy Toomer, who ran against Hubbard in 2014. According to Coleman, Hart provided him with “confidential grand jury information” to be used against Hubbard during that campaign. Coleman claims that he had between 50 and 100 conversations with Hart and used the information discussed therein to create a “whisper campaign” in Hubbard’s home district, Lee County. Coleman specifies that he was provided with the identities of persons appearing before the grand jury, assurances that the jury would indict Hubbard and that the Attorney General’s office had sufficient information to “counter any perceived prejudice or trouble inside the office.” The “assurances” occurred before the grand jury finished hearing testimony and Coleman claims that “each piece of information came from Matt Hart and was provided to the citizens of Lee County” by Coleman and others who believed the information to be factual. The letter goes on to say that Hart threatened to bring Coleman before a grand jury if he ever revealed that he had “a pipeline of information out of the Attorney General’s office.” Further, Coleman claims that when he was subpoenaed by Hubbard’s defense team Hart offered to work with him on answers to “potential questions regarding Speaker Hubbard, the grand jury proceedings” and more. The letter goes on to call into question the timing of Hubbard’s indictments, which occurred only two weeks before his re-election. “The timing of the indictments, coupled with Mr. Coleman’s sworn testimony and the statements if others … gives our members grave concerns that the Alabama Attorney General’s Office has used the power of its office in a coordinated effort to defeat Speaker Hubbard in his election,” the letter says. Though Strange has officially recused himself from “the matter regarding Speaker Hubbard,” and may not believe he has the power to “overrule, discipline, or investigate” Hart, the letter calls for an “unbiased investigation” to be made into the statements made by Coleman. “For the sake of all involved – including Speaker Hubbard, Mr. Hart, General Strange, and the citizens of Alabama – this matter and these claims should be thoroughly investigated by an unbiased body with the resources and experience to do so,” the letter states. “It is our hope that Attorney General Strange will join us in asking the Justice Department to conduct an investigation into these matters involving his office to ensure that the rights of Speaker Hubbard and all Alabama citizens, those rights guaranteed to us in the Constitution of the United States, are protected.” The Attorney General’s office did not immediately return requests for comment. Alabama Today has secured a copy of the letter sent to Lynch and Beck. Check out the full letter and affidavit below: Click to read full document and affidavit.
State lawyers call proposed legislative districts ‘bizarre’
The attorney general’s office said alternate legislative maps suggested by black legislators show that Alabama lawmakers made proper choices in drawing new district lines. State lawyers in a November court filing criticized the alternate maps as “bizarre” as the two sides continued a legal back-and-forth over the state’s legislative lines. Black members of the Alabama Legislature filed a federal lawsuit saying the GOP-controlled Alabama Legislature segregated and “stacked” black voters into designated districts, preventing them from influencing elections elsewhere. State Republicans said the lines, which were approved by the U.S Department of Justice, were fairly drawn so that districts were equally sized and varied in population by plus or minus 1 percent. A three-judge panel asked the plaintiffs to try their hand at their own map without increasing the variance in district population size. Attorneys for the state argued the rival plan linked unlike communities. “While Plaintiffs’ plans fall within (plus or minus 1 percent) and while some of the black-majority districts in their plans have lower black majorities, they could not reach that result without bizarre districts and retrogression to reach that point,” lawyers for the attorney general’s office wrote. The case is back before a three-judge panel after the U.S Supreme Court sent it back for additional review. Lawyers for black lawmakers in a Monday court filing said the state’s current districts were drawn to hit “unlawful racial targets.” If the map is tossed, the state will have to draw new lines and hold new elections. Republished with permission of The Associated Press.
