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Yahoo
27-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Bills targeting library operations die in Alabama Legislature
Books in the young adult section of the Ozark - Dale County Library on Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2023 in Ozark, Ala. Two bills -- one that could have subjected librarians to obscenity prosecutions and one that would have allow city or county governments to remove library board members failed to move in the Alabama Legislature's recently-concluded 2025 regular session. (Stew Milne for Alabama Reflector) The battles over library content continue throughout Alabama. But two bills that could have affected how libraries operate failed to move in the Legislature's 2025 session. One measure, HB 4, would have applied state obscenity laws to public libraries and their employees if there were materials judged to be obscene in the children's section. The other, SB 6, would have allowed cities and counties to terminate members of the library boards without cause. The battles over library books began in Alabama in 2023, after a parent using the Autauga-Prattville Library complained about a book in the children's section that had inclusive pronouns. Similar fights have erupted all over the state. Supporters of restrictions say they are trying to get obscene material out of children's sections of the library. Critics say those restrictions target books with LGBTQ+ characters and themes and not necessarily obscene books. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX 'Our devoted and beleaguered librarians will not have to worry about being handcuffed and jailed for refusing to censor books under House Bill 4, the 'Jail the Librarians bill,' which never made it out of its House Committee,' said Read Freely Alabama, a group that opposes new library restrictions, in a statement shortly after the 2025 legislative session ended. 'Furthermore, the bill which would have politicized our library boards even more (SB 6) once again died before making it to the Senate floor.' Multiple messages seeking comment were left with Rep. Arnold Mooney, R-Indian Springs, the sponsor of HB 4, and Sen. Chris Elliott, R-Josephine, the sponsor of SB 6. Amy Minton, a member of the Alabama Public Library Service (APLS) Board and an advocate of additional restrictions on library content, said in an interview that she was 'a little surprised that people get so upset about the obscenity or sexually explicit materials.' 'If they don't have it in the library, why do they get so upset about them being asked to be moved, whether through a law or policy?' she said. HB 4 would have amended the state's obscenity laws to make public libraries and librarians criminally liable for making materials that are sexually explicit or harmful to minors available. The legislation would have allowed residents served by the library to file a notice with the staff that they believe there are sexually explicit or inappropriate materials found in sections of the library dedicated to minors. Libraries would then have to relocate the materials to the adult section or remove them entirely. They can also notify the public that they have determined the item is in the appropriate section, which any resident can then challenge. Noncompliance would have subjected librarians to prosecution under Alabama obscenity laws, which can be as severe as a Class B felony, punishable by up to 20 years in prison and a $30,000 fine. SB 6 would have mandated that library board members be appointed to a four-year term and that members could be removed from the board with a two-thirds of the members of the governing body, either the city or county, agree by vote. The House Judiciary Committee never considered HB 4. SB 6 got approval from the Senate County and Municipal Government Committee, which Elliott chairs, but did not come to a vote on the Senate floor. Mooney's obscenity bill was approved further along in the 2024 session, receiving approval from members of the House and even getting approved in the Senate Children and Youth Health Committee before it stalled in the Senate. Elliott's legislation was approved in the Senate and the House County and Municipal Government Committee where it remained as the session ended. Advocates of restrictions have succeeded in convincing the Alabama Public Library Service, the state agency that oversees local library funding, to impose policy changes that favor more restrictions. In March, the APLS Board suspended funding to the Fairhope Public Library in Baldwin County while also voting to have Pack terminated after Minton made a motion. Supporters of the library raised money to replace the lost funding and defended the library at city council and APLS meetings. Alabama GOP chair John Wahl, who currently serves as chair of the APLS Board, said at a meeting earlier this month that members are waiting for the Fairhope Public Library to complete its review of the books that parents challenged before resuming funding to the library. 'We know that the fight isn't over. As we speak, a stacked and extreme Alabama Public Library Service board continues its assault on libraries, stripping funding from those who will not cave to their demands,' Read Freely Alabama said in the statement. 'And even today, as this session closes, opposing forces are already crafting legislation for a chosen representative to prefile, and are regrouping to continue their assault on our freedoms and beloved public institutions at the next legislative session.' SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Federal court: Alabama Legislature intentionally discriminated against Black voters in redistricting
Sen. Steve Livingston, R-Scottsboro, listens to discussions during a special session on redistricting on Wednesday, July 19, 2023 in Montgomery, Ala. (Stew Milne for Alabama Reflector) A federal court Thursday ruled that the Alabama Legislature intentionally discriminated against Black voters in approving a congressional district map in 2023 that would only have had one majority-Black district. In a nearly 600-page order, the three-judge panel — U.S. Circuit Judge Stanley Marcus, appointed by former President Bill Clinton, and U.S. District Judges Anna M. Manasco and Terry F. Moorer, both appointees of President Donald Trump — accused the Legislature of ignoring its orders in 2023 to replace a map approved in 2021 with a new one that had two districts where Black voters had a substantial opportunity to elect their preferred leaders. 'The Legislature knew what federal law required and purposefully refused to provide it, in a strategic attempt to checkmate the injunction that ordered it,' the opinion said. 'It would be remarkable — indeed, unprecedented — for us to hold that a state legislature that purposefully ignored a federal court order acted in good faith.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX The three-judge panel also said it would consider a request from plaintiffs to place Alabama back into preclearance for future congressional redistricting efforts — which Alabama has not had to go through for over a decade following the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Shelby County v. Holder. The judges wrote that they had 'no doubt' that the the 2023 map was designed to 'crack Black voters across congressional districts in a manner that that makes it impossible to create two districts in which they have an opportunity to elect candidates of their choice, and thereby intentionally perpetuate the discriminatory effects of the 2021 plan.' 'So we observe that although the success of the Milligan Plaintiffs' claim of intentional discrimination is unusual, we also do not regard it as a particularly close call,' they wrote. Deuel Ross of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, representing plaintiffs who originally challenged an Alabama congressional map approved in 2021, said in a phone interview Thursday that the court's decision confirms the 'unfortunate reality of Alabama's illegal and unconstitutional actions in this case.' 'It's an incredible victory for Black voters, and all voters, really in the Black Belt, who have been denied representation by the state for decades,' Ross said. Amanda Priest, a spokesperson for Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall, said Thursday that the office is 'still reviewing the order and that all options remain on the table.' Rep. Chris Pringle, R-Mobile, a co-chair of the legislative committee tasked with redistricting congressional districts, said in a text that he needs 'time for the attorneys to digest the ruling before I will be able to comment.' Messages seeking comment were left Thursday with Sen. Steve Livingston, R-Scottsboro, who led legislative redistricting efforts in 2023 with Pringle, and attorneys for Pringle and Livingston. The decision will not immediately affect the shape of Alabama's congressional districts, but could require the Legislature to tread carefully with future redistricting. The court in early 2022 cited racially polarized voting in Alabama — where white Alabamians tend to vote for Republicans and Black Alabamians tend to vote for Democrats — in ruling that Alabama's 2021 congressional map violated Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act by making it practically impossible for Black Alabamians to elect their preferred leaders. The panel ordered the Legislature to draw two congressional districts where Black voters would have an opportunity to choose those leaders. The state appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which upheld the lower court ruling. In the summer of 2023, the Legislature approved a map that the panel later rejected, finding it fell far short of their directives. The panel appointed a special master who drew a map where two of Alabama's seven U.S. House districts — the 2nd and the 7th – have majority-Black or near-majority Black populations. The court's finding of intentional racial discrimination, drawn from actions and statements from lawmakers during the redistricting process and their initial refusal to draw a second majority-Black district, is significant. 'The Legislature's conduct and that concession thrust this case into an unusual posture: we are not aware of any other case in which a state legislature — faced with a federal court order declaring that its electoral plan unlawfully dilutes minority votes and requiring a remedial plan that provides an additional opportunity district — responded with a plan that the state concedes does not provide that district,' the judges wrote. Ross referred to it as 'the uniqueness of Alabama's defiance of the law.' 'If there's a court order that's been affirmed, particularly by the Supreme Court, then the result is that the defendants need to comply with it, or any party, especially a state,' Ross said. Laurel Hattix, an attorney with the ACLU of Alabama, said in a statement that the ruling is 'an overdue acknowledgment of Alabama lawmakers' persistent attempts to shut out Black voters from the electoral process.' 'For decades, Black Alabamians have organized and fought for not just their voting rights, but the voting rights of all Americans. Today, the courts have affirmed what Black voters have long known: fair representation is not optional — it's a right,' Hattix said. Ross also said the special master's plan used in the 2024 elections will remain in effect at least through the 2030 redistricting cycle, barring intervention from the U.S. Supreme Court. 'Alabama obviously has the right to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, and the Supreme Court has an opportunity to weigh in if it wants to, but we'll see what happens there,' Ross said. U.S. Rep. Shomari Figures, D-Mobile, won the election in the 2nd Congressional District last November. Coupled with U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell, D-Birmingham, winning an eighth term in Congress, the election marked the first time in history that Alabama elected two Black U.S. Representatives at the same time. Alabama's population is about 27% Black; in the 19th century, it was between 45 and 49% Black. This story was updated at 5:00 p.m. with comment from Rep. Chris Pringle, R-Mobile, and at 5:04 p.m. with comment from the Alabama Attorney General's office. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
24-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Senate passes bill authorizing Alabama Statehouse demolition
The Alabama Legislature has meet in the current Statehouse -- the old Highway Department Building -- since 1986. Amid deteriorating conditions in the current Statehouse, Alabama is pursuing what would be the nation's first new State Capitol in nearly 50 years. (Stew Milne for Alabama Reflector) The Alabama Senate passed a bill Thursday authorizing the demolition of the Alabama Statehouse. SB 279, sponsored by Sen. Sam Givhan, R-Huntsville, gives the Alabama Legislature permission to tear down the current building after relocating to the new Statehouse, anticipated in 2026. The bill passed unanimously and heads to the House for consideration. 'This is the one that deals with the destruction of this fine building right here,' Givhan said to the Senate body. Givhan said the legislation provides processes for liquidating property that won't be used in the new Statehouse. The bill states that parts or materials of the current building 'may be reused, recycled, upcycled, sold, or disposed of, as determined by the Legislative Council in a manner that is fiscally responsible.' The bill would also allow the Clerk of the House of Representatives and the Secretary of the Senate to sell furniture that won't be used in the new building to 'members and employees of the Legislature.' 'It just deals with that,' Givhan said. The bill passed without discussion. Lawmakers have used the current Statehouse, the old Highway Department building originally intended as a temporary space during Capitol renovations, since 1986. Problems like mold led to the 2023 decision to build a new facility, which will be the nation's first new statehouse since 1977. The bill moves to the House for consideration SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
14-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Alabama Senate committee approves bill to demolish Statehouse
The Alabama State House in Montgomery, Alabama as seen on July 10, 2023. A Senate committee last week approved the demolition of the building after work is complete on a new Statehouse, expected to be occupied next year. (Stew Milne for Alabama Reflector) An Alabama Senate committee unanimously approved the demolition of the Alabama State House last week. SB 279, sponsored by Sen. Sam Givhan, R-Huntsville, allows the Alabama Legislature to demolish the current State House once the lawmakers and staff have moved into the new Statehouse, expected to take place in 2026. Givhan told the Senate State Governmental Affairs Committee that he did not know when the demolition would happen or how much it would cost, although the expense would come from the General Fund. 'This destruction is going to have to be paid for, in full, by Alabama taxpayer money,' chair of the Senate General Fund Committee Sen. Greg Albritton, R-Atmore, said. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX The Legislature has occupied the current Statehouse, the old Highway Building, since 1986. The building, meant to be temporary to allow renovations to the Alabama State Capitol to proceed, has mold and other issues that led the Legislature in 2023 to approve construction of a new facility. When completed, the Statehouse will be the first new one built in the nation since 1977. Givhan, seemingly joking, said there could be a raffle for people to participate in the demolition, but that would be determined later. 'We may also raffle off tickets to get people with sledge hammers, like you used to do with old cars to beat them up a little,' he said. 'This gives us the right to do that.' The bill also allows the clerk of the house and the secretary of the senate to sell furniture that will not be used in the new building. Rep. Chris Pringle, R-Mobile, carries a companion bill in the House, which has yet to be seen in the House State Governmental Affairs Committee. Givhan's bill will now be considered by the full Senate. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
12-04-2025
- Yahoo
Gov. Kay Ivey touts arrest of Honduran man without legal status in traffic stop
Gov. Kay Ivey gives a thumbs-up to the crowd at her inauguration on Jan. 20, 2023. (Stew Milne/Alabama Reflector) Gov. Kay Ivey touted in a post on X Friday that a Honduran man in the state without authorization was arrested in a string of traffic stops intended to reduce violent crimes. Roberto Steven Martinez Benavides was charged with second-degree forgery in Montgomery on Tuesday in 'an operation concerning the delivery of a vehicle for purchase with a fraudulent VIN and fraudulent title.' Amanda Wasden, director of external affairs for the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency, said in an email that the Metro Area Crime Suppression Unit (MACS) helped the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) by conducting a traffic stop on the vehicle with the alleged fraudulent VIN. Benavides is being held in the Montgomery County Jail. He has a hold for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) so that HSI can determine if he is eligible for deportation or further action. 'Another strong week for Alabama's Metro Area Crime Suppression Unit in our Capital City — 63 traffic stops, 51 arrest warrants and 15 other arrests. One individual arrested is an illegal. We've turned him over to the feds to be deported,' Ivey posted on X. MACS is a coalition of local, state and federal agencies that work to reduce violent crimes and 'seek to obtain prosecutions for violations such as organized crime, drug conspiracy, robbery, motor vehicle theft and firearms violations.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
