Latest news with #AllenTreadaway
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
House passes Senate bill prohibiting use of foreign national IDs to vote
Rep. Allen Treadaway, R-Morris, speaks in the Alabama House of Representatives on May 8, 2024 at the Alabama Statehouse in Montgomery. The House passed a bill Treadaway carried that prohibits the use of foreign national IDs in Alabama elections. (Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector) The Alabama House of Representatives passed a bill Wednesday that prohibits the use of foreign national ID or drivers license to vote in Alabama elections. SB 158, sponsored by Sen. Will Barfoot, R-Pike Road, is the companion bill to HB 480, sponsored by Rep. Allen Treadaway, R-Morris, which passed the House on April 16. People from foreign countries with legal status in the country may apply for driver's licenses or IDs from the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency but are not authorized to vote. House Democrats criticized Treadaway's bill as unnecessary. 'Our citizens might think that there's a problem with foreign nationalists using any form of ID they might have gotten from this country to register to vote,' said Rep. Mary Moore, D-Birmingham. 'But we don't even have enough documentation to show where a foreign national would even try to register, let alone vote in the United States.' The bill passed 82-13. It goes to Gov. Kay Ivey.
Yahoo
16-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Alabama House passes bill prohibiting use of foreign national IDs to vote
Rep. Allen Treadaway, R-Morris, speaks in the Alabama House of Representatives on May 8, 2024 at the Alabama Statehouse in Montgomery. Treadaway's bill that prohibits a "foreign national" ID from being used to vote in Alabama passed the House on April 15, 2025. (Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector) The Alabama House of Representatives passed a bill Tuesday that prohibits people from using a foreign national drivers license or ID to vote in Alabama elections. Sponsor of HB 480, Rep. Alan Treadaway, R-Morris, said he has heard of people using one of these IDs to vote in Alabama elections. Treadaway did not say where or how many. 'My understanding is there's been some confusion at the polling places,' he said. People from foreign countries with legal status in the country may apply for driver's licenses or IDs from the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency but are not authorized to vote. House Democrats criticized the legislation saying it is unnecessary. Rep. Mary Moore, D-Birmingham, prodded Treadaway for proof that this has happened. 'I would like to know where it happens and how frequently it happens before we jump into this,' Moore said. Rep. Laura Hall, D-Mobile, questioned the need for a law if the ID is not on the list of approved photo-IDs to vote. 'If it's not one of them, why do we need a bill? It's already not one of the ones you can use to vote,' Hall said. Treadaway said the IDs have caused confusion at polling locations and the bill would clarify that one could not be used in order to vote. 'If they have, or haven't been used, this bill simply says they cannot be used unless they get their U.S. citizenship,' he said. The bill passed 76-5, with 21 abstentions. It goes to the Senate. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
02-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Alabama House committee approves bill criminalizing interference with first responders
Rep. Allen Treadaway, R-Morris, speaks in the Alabama House of Representatives on May 8, 2024 at the Alabama Statehouse in Montgomery. A House committee Wednesday approved legislation sponsored by Treadaway that makes it a crime to interfere with first responders. (Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector) An Alabama House committee Wednesday approved legislation to make it a crime to interfere with first responders working a scene after the sponsor removed language that critics said violated free speech rights. HB 224, sponsored by Rep. Allen Treadaway, R-Morris, makes it a misdemeanor to loiter within 25 feet of a first responder after getting told to leave the scene or to interfere with either paramedics or law enforcement who were dispatched to the area. 'We are seeing more and more of this,' Treadaway told the House Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee. 'Since I left four years ago a lot of this, when I was policing, we did not see.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX As originally filed, the bill included language that potentially criminalized people for verbally harassing or directing abusive language at first responders. A substitute that Treadaway filed removed that section and required first responders to instruct people not to approach or leave the scene. If they refuse or return after they are told to leave, and remain within 25 feet of the first responder, they are then subject to arrest if they interfere with first responders while they are working a scene, or if they threaten them. Those who violate the provisions in the bill are subject to a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by up to a year in jail and a $6,000 fine. The radius for the crime was originally 100 feet. The substitute changed it to 25 feet. The original version also stated that those who loiter within 25 feet of a first responder after they were told to leave and interfere in the situation or make disparaging verbal comments or abusive language could then be charged with a Class A misdemeanor. The language was removed. The House Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee considered the legislation after the committee hosted a public hearing in March prior to the spring recess. Some still had concerns with the limit pertaining to distance. 'Is there anything that is going to tell the community that they are going to have to stay back 25 feet?' asked Rep. Tashina Morris, D-Montgomery. Treadaway said that officers are trained to move a crowd back from a scene further than 25 feet and make it clear they cannot move any closer. 'We have this whole court system in our country that allows redress,' Treadaway said. He said that individuals can use the court system to challenge the actions of law enforcement. 'If the officer is doing his job, he is videotaping everything, he is not going to put someone in jail that he has got to go before a judge,' Treadaway said. 'We have this whole court system in this country that allows redress, so if you feel like you want to challenge it, just like a ticket, that is what we have a court for. Either you can pay for your ticket, or you can argue your case. An officer feels the same way.' The bill moves to the full House. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
22-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Harassing Alabama officers could result in jail time
DOTHAN, Ala (WDHN) — Anyone harassing or threatening an officer after being asked to the leave the scene of a crime could be jailed and face a fine if a new bill becomes law in the yellowhammer state. If passed, House Bill 224 would prohibit anyone from threatening or harassing first responders after being asked to back away or leave. They would also not be allowed to remain between 25-100 feet from a response scene if they are ordered to leave. Those violating the law could be charged with a Class A misdemeanor, which carries up to a year in prison and a $6,000 fine. The bill defines harassment as 'a course of conduct with the intent to cause substantial emotional distress and which serves no legitimate purpose.' Opponents to the new bill have said the language is too broad and could be left to the discretion of the responding officer. Robert Corn-Revere, chief counsel for Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), told the Alabama Reflector on Tuesday that the terms look 'unconstitutional' and the language offers wide latitude for police to charge people. The bill's sponsor, Rep. Allen Treadaway, R-Morris, says it it meant to protect first responders. Morris is a retired assistant police chief from Birmingham. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
19-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Alabama House bill would allow arrest of those directing abusive language at first responders
Rep. Allen Treadaway, R-Morris, speaks in the Alabama House of Representatives on May 8, 2024 at the Alabama Statehouse in Montgomery. Treadaway is sponsoring a a bill that could criminalize abusive language or gestures made toward first responders. (Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector) An Alabama House committee Wednesday held a hearing on a bill that would allow law enforcement to arrest people who direct abusive language at first responders, make obscene gestures or linger at a response scene after being ordered to leave. HB 224, sponsored by Rep. Allen Treadaway, R-Morris, prohibits someone from remaining within 25 feet of a first responder, such as firefighters and police, if they are ordered to keep their distance or vacate the scene. 'We have seen where firemen are trying to do their job, whether it is trying to hook up a hose that may be a block away, and groups of individuals are impeding their ability and puts lives in danger,' Treadaway, a retired Birmingham assistant police chief, told the House Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee on Wednesday. 'Same thing with law enforcement officers.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Those in violation of the law would be charged with a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by up to a year in jail and a $6,000 fine. The original version of the legislation required people to remain 100 feet away from the first responder. It also defined harassment as 'a course of conduct with the intent to cause substantial emotional distress and which serves no legitimate purpose.' A substitute offered by Treadaway on Wednesday reduced the distance from 100 to 25 feet and removed the harassment section. Treadaway's bill is one of many recent pieces of legislation in the Legislature aimed at enhancing police powers. In the past two weeks, bills that moved through the committee allow law enforcement to impound people's vehicles; place people on hold for 24 hours and charge people with a crime for failing to give police personal information. The measures are part of an overall agenda laid out by the Republican-dominated Legislature in concert with Gov. Kay Ivey to address public safety. Free speech advocates said Treadaway's bill was so broad that it could lead to legal challenges. 'To me, the terms look unconstitutional,' said Robert Corn-Revere, chief counsel for Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), a group that advocates for free speech on college campuses, in an interview on Tuesday. Corn-Revere said the language offers first responders, particularly police, wide latitude to judge and charge people with a crime. 'The constitution protects the right of the public to observe what public officials are doing,' Corn-Revere said. The practical impact of the legislation could hinder the press from reporting on the scene or taking photographs. Law enforcement and the Alabama District Attorneys Association supported the measure and helped to craft the legislation. 'Our first responders should be allowed to work in a safe place,' said Everette Johnson, the president of the Fraternal Order of Police. 'They should be allowed the opportunity to do the job they are sworn to do without interference from outside entities, the people who are trying to prevent arrest, disruption of public safety services that we asked them to do.' Civil rights groups, as well as Democrats on the committee, expressed concerns with some of the language in the bill, such as the 25 feet zone and possible free speech violations. 'This language makes protest impossible,' said Camille Bennett during the public hearing, founder and executive director of Project Say Something, a nonprofit that advocates against racial injustice. 'How can a public servant accurately measure 25 feet and carry around a blow horn to instruct protestors to disperse in real time?' Rep. Chris England, D-Tuscaloosa, requested that Treadaway remove the provision in the bill that a person could be arrested for simply speaking ill of the officer or making an obscene gesture. 'The definition of first responder includes police officers who, at this time, already are supposed to carry a little thicker skin in terms of language used in whatever they are doing, so the standard is higher,' he said. 'That is the reason you can't be arrested for making comments already.' Treadaway said after the hearing he planned to amend the bill and hold a committee vote on the legislation the following week. 'We want to blame police officers for every bad thing out there that happens,' he said as the discussion winded down. 'Unfortunately, every profession has a bad apple. We cannot put every police officer in the same basket as those who do something wrong.' SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
