Abortion

Vaginal Ultrasound Bills A Smokescreen, Say Pro-Choice Groups

Jillian Rayfield | February 29, 2012, 6:15AM

5 November 2003 - Washington, D.C. - Pro-choice advocates protest near the Ronald Reagan Building where President George W. Bush signed the Partial Birth Abortion Act banning the practice. Photo Credit: Robert Trippett/Sipa Press/TrippettProChoicez.03/0410201812

Don't be fooled by talk of transvaginal ultrasound bills, pro-choice groups say. Regular ultrasound bills are just as bad.

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Alabama

Alabama Lawmaker Backs Off Transvaginal Ultrasound Provision

Jillian Rayfield | February 28, 2012, 1:45PM

Anti-abortion demonstrators in Washington, DC.

A lawmaker in Alabama is backing off a provision that would have required women in his state to undergo a transvaginal ultrasound before getting an abortion -- similar to a much-maligned measure in Virginia that was also eventually scrapped.

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Bill Johnson

Anti-Gay Alabama GOPer Secretly Donated Sperm To Lesbian Couples In New Zealand

Jillian Rayfield | December 12, 2011, 1:17PM

We feel safe in saying this is probably the weirdest story you'll read all day...

An anti-gay Alabama Republican was reportedly making secret sperm donations to at least nine New Zealand women he met over the internet, unbeknownst to his wife back in America.

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Alabama

Feds Tug On Purse Strings Of Alabama Cops Over Immigration Law Enforcement

Ryan J. Reilly | December 6, 2011, 7:55PM

The Justice Department's Civil Rights Division has taken the unusual step of warning 156 local law enforcement agencies in Alabama that they'll lose their federal funding if they don't comply with federal civil rights laws when enforcing the state's harsh immigration law.

"As you undertake law enforcement activity under H.B. 56, it is critical that your enforcement of this law does not result in the unlawful stopping, questioning, searching, detaining, or arresting of persons in violation of the Fourth and Fifth Amendments, or in the targeting of racial or ethnic minorities in a manner that violates the Fourteenth Amendment," Assistant Attorney General Thomas E. Perez wrote in a letter dated Friday and sent to reporters on Tuesday.

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Alabama

Sovereign Citizen 'Governor' And 'Christian Princess' Convicted Of Tax Fraud

Ryan J. Reilly | November 4, 2011, 6:38PM

An Alabama couple who considered themselves sovereign citizens -- who required their tenants to pay rent in silver coins and buried $350,000 worth of gold coins in their backyard -- were convicted of conspiracy to defraud the U.S. and three counts of tax evasion on Friday.

Monty Ervin and Patricia Ervin, owners and managers of Southern Realty, amassed "hundreds of investment properties over the last decade, receiving more than $9 million in rental income," but paid nothing in federal income taxes, according to the Justice Department.

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Alabama

DOJ To Alabama AG: You Can't Tell Schools Not To Give Us Enrollment Data

Ryan J. Reilly | November 4, 2011, 2:03PM

Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange (R)

Yes, Alabama school districts, you do have to turn over your enrollment data to the Justice Department.

Earlier this week, DOJ wrote a number of school districts requesting enrollment data as part of their investigation into whether Alabama's harsh immigration law is forcing students out of school, in violation of federal law.

But Republican Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange questioned DOJ's authority to request the data and interim school superintendent Larry Craven told schools to hold off on turning over any data until the disagreement was settled.

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DOJ Civil Rights Division

Feds To Alabama: No, You Can't Discriminate Against School Kids

Ryan J. Reilly | November 1, 2011, 12:40PM

The Justice Department sent a letter to school districts in Alabama on Tuesday reminding them that they can't deny a child access to public education due to his or her immigration status.

Assistant Attorney General Thomas Perez's letter comes after he expressed concern that Alabama's anti-illegal immigration law was keeping children out of school because their parents are scared about the impact of the law. A federal judge has blocked portions of the harsh anti-illegal immigration measure.

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Bingo Bribery

Federal Judge: Republicans Only Cooperated With FBI In Alabama Bingo Bribery Case Because They're Racists

Ryan J. Reilly | October 21, 2011, 4:50PM

A federal judge accused two state Republicans, called by federal prosecutors in a massive Alabama corruption case, of cooperating with the feds because of their "ulterior motives rooted in naked political ambition and pure racial bias."

State Sen. Scott Beason and former Rep. Benjamin Lewis, U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson wrote, "lack credibility for two reasons."

"First, their motive for cooperating with F.B.I. investigators was not to clean up corruption but to increase Republican political fortunes by reducing African-American voter turnout. Second, they lack credibility because the record establishes their purposeful, racist intent," Thompson wrote.

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Alabama

Appeals Court Partially Blocks Enforcement Of Alabama Immigration Law

Ryan J. Reilly | October 14, 2011, 1:45PM

Immigration bill protest at the state Capitol in Atlanta, Georgia, March 2011.

Updated: Oct. 14, 2:35PM

A federal appeals court on Friday blocked parts of a controversial Alabama immigration law.

The provisions that were enjoined -- section 10 and section 28 -- make it a crime for illegal immigrants to not have proper documentation and also make Alabama schools track the immigration status of their students.

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Thomas Perez

DOJ Official Worried About 'Vigilante Enforcement' Of Alabama's Harsh Immigration Law

Ryan J. Reilly | October 14, 2011, 12:10PM

Update, Oct. 14, 2:27PM: An appeals court has blocked certain provisions of the law.

It's "very clear" that Alabama's new anti-illegal immigration law is keeping children who are U.S. citizens out of school because their parents are scared about its impact, Assistant Attorney General Thomas E. Perez told reporters Friday.

U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama Joyce Vance also said that federal officials were "hearing some concerns about vigilante enforcement of the law by private citizens."

"I don't want to overstate, we have heard folks expressing concern that this will take place" but haven't heard any actual reports of such incidents, Vance said. "I never like to be behind crime, I'd like to be in front of it."

"We always maintain awareness and alertness of potential hate crimes, so you know when we say 'vigilanteism' that really means the same thing as the traditional work that we do ensuring that the hate crimes laws in this country are fully enforced," Vance said.

Perez said that they were reviewing some "very troubling data" from schools regarding absentee and dropout data since the law went into effect. He also said there were getting reports of increases in bullying in the wake of the law.

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Thomas Perez

Obama Administration Dispatches DOJ Official To Alabama To Discuss Impact Of Immigration Law

Ryan J. Reilly | October 13, 2011, 3:00PM

Justice Department official Thomas Perez will travel to Alabama this week to call attention to the impact that Alabama's strict immigration law will have on schoolchildren in the state.

Perez, the assistant attorney general in charge of the Civil Rights Division, will join U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama Joyce Vance in meeting with "community leaders, civil rights organizations and families" in Birmingham, according to DOJ.

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Scott Beason

Alabama GOPer Apologizes For Calling Black Casino Customers 'Aborigines'

Ryan J. Reilly | September 28, 2011, 9:25AM

State Sen. Scott Beason (R-AL)

An Alabama Republican who called blacks "aborigines" while wearing an FBI wire apologized on Tuesday for his remarks.

State Sen. Scott Beason called his comments "careless and unnecessary" in a statement he read outside a civic center. "Our purpose today is to say that I am very sorry and I apologize to anyone whose feelings were hurt by my comment."

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Alabama

Alabama Town Offers 'Church Or Jail' Sentencing Choice

Jillian Rayfield | September 26, 2011, 1:20PM

A small town in Alabama is offering non-violent offenders the choice between doing prison time and paying a fine, or working their sentence off by going to church every week.

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Alabama

Federal Judge Blocks Alabama's Immigration Law

Jillian Rayfield | August 29, 2011, 3:51PM

Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley (R)

A federal judge has issued a temporary injunction against Alabama's controversial immigration crackdown, ruling that she needed more time to determine whether the law is constitutional. The law had been scheduled to go into effect on September 1st.

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Alabama

Judge: AL Immigration Law Could Pave Way For Unlawful Arrest Suits

Jillian Rayfield | August 24, 2011, 3:37PM

Attorney General Eric Holder

A federal judge presiding in the lawsuit over Alabama's immigration crackdown said in a hearing Wednesday that "there are a lot of problems with this statute," and that it could lead to a number of unlawful arrest suits.

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Department of Justice

DOJ's Suit Against Alabama Immigration Law Headed To Court

Jillian Rayfield | August 23, 2011, 4:57PM

Attorney General Eric Holder

The Department of Justice and lawyers for the state of Alabama will face-off in federal court Wednesday over the state's controversial immigration law.

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Bingo Bribery

After Major Setback, Feds Set To Retry Alabama Pols, Casino Owner In Bingo Bribery Case

Ryan J. Reilly | August 15, 2011, 5:30PM

The Justice Department suffered a major setback last week when a federal jury in Alabama tossed out most of the charges in a massive public corruption case involving casino interests allegedly bribing state senators to support a bill legalizing bingo in the state.

But federal prosecutors indicated Monday that they'll give it another go on the charges that weren't unanimously acquitted. A judge has scheduled a new trial for October.

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Department of Justice

DOJ Files Lawsuit Against Alabama Immigration Law

Jillian Rayfield | August 1, 2011, 6:09PM

Attorney General Eric Holder

The Department of Justice has filed a lawsuit challenging Alabama's immigration crackdown, arguing that the law is unconstitutional because it interferes with federal enforcement of immigration policies.

The DOJ has asked the courts to grant a preliminary injunction against the law, which is scheduled to go into effect September 1st, because it will cause "irreparable harm" if allowed to stand until the law can work its way through the court system.

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Bingo Bribery

Wearing FBI Wire, Alabama Republican Called Black Casino Customers 'Aborigines'

Ryan J. Reilly | June 17, 2011, 12:45PM

State Sen. Scott Beason (R-AL)

Alabama state Sen. Scott Beason, a cooperating witness in a federal corruption case, called black gambling hall customers "aborigines" when he was wearing an FBI wire and recording conversations with his fellow lawmakers, it was revealed in court this week.

Beason and two other Republican legislators were joking about economic development in predominantly black Greene County and the customers of the Greenetrack casino, the Associated Press reports.

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South Carolina

Alabama House Passes Arizona-Style Immigration Bill

Jillian Rayfield | April 6, 2011, 11:17AM

Alabama State House and State Rep. Micky Hammon (R)

The Alabama House of Representatives voted Tuesday to pass an immigration bill modeled after Arizona's, that would give law enforcement officials the authority to demand papers from people in cases "where reasonable suspicion exists that a person is an unauthorized alien," and jail those suspected of being in the country illegally until their immigration status can be confirmed.

The bill, which passed the House by a vote of 73-28, makes it a crime to be an illegal immigrant in the state of Alabama, and could lead to trespassing charges for those found to be in the state unlawfully. In Alabama, trespassing carries a sentence of up to a year.

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Sharia

Alabama Proposes Constitutional Amendment To Ban Sharia Law In Courts

Melissa Jeltsen | March 4, 2011, 2:10PM

State Sen. Gerald Allen (R)

It's been a busy few weeks for Sharia-fearing Americans. Tennessee recently introduced a bill that would ban the practice of Sharia - and perhaps by extension, the practice of Islam itself. Elsewhere, anti-Sharia groups battled for supremacy outside the White House, and Missouri filed legislation to outlaw the use of Sharia law in its courts. Now, it appears Alabama is getting into the game.

State Sen. Gerald Allen (R ) has introduced a constitutional amendment, SB 62, that would forbid the use of Islamic law in the state's courts.

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Milton McGregor

Alleged Bingo Briber McGregor Demands Immediate Trial

Ryan J. Reilly | January 24, 2011, 12:55PM

VictoryLand Greyhound Park in Shorter, Alabama.

Lawyers for Milton McGregor, the proprietor of Alabama's VictoryLand -- who the government says illegally bribed members of the state legislature to support legislation which allowed electronic bingo -- says the feds are dragging their feet in their case against him and demanded an immediate trial.

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Jarrod D. Massey

Convicted Alabama Bingo Briber Massey Heads To Prison

Ryan J. Reilly | January 20, 2011, 8:55AM

Jarrod D. Massey, a former casino lobbyist who admitted he bought and sold votes in the Alabama state legislator on pro-gambling legislature, went to prison yesterday. And he doesn't even know how long he'll be there.

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Robert Bentley

Alabama Governor Apologizes For Saying Only Christians Are His Brothers

Eric Lach | January 19, 2011, 5:22PM

Gov. Robert Bentley (R-AL)

Alabama's new governor has apologized for comments he made on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, when he told a crowd at the Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church in Montgomery, "anybody here today who has not accepted Jesus Christ as their savior, I'm telling you, you're not my brother and you're not my sister, and I want to be your brother."

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Alabama

New Alabama Governor: Only Christians Are My Brothers And Sisters

Eric Lach | January 18, 2011, 11:46AM

Gov. Robert Bentley (R-AL)

Speaking on Martin Luther King Jr. Day in the very church where Dr. King once pastored, new Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley gave a speech in which he said that those who have not accepted Jesus Christ as their savior are not his "brothers."

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Alabama

Amid Bingo Bribery Scandal, Alabama Institutes Lobbying Reform

Ryan J. Reilly | December 28, 2010, 11:20AM

Gov. Bob Riley (R-AL)

The Alabama state legislature last week approved a package of ethics bills that supporters say will change state politics for the better amid the unfolding bingo legislation bribery scandal. But as the Birmingham News reports there's "disagreement on whether those changes are giant leaps or small steps."

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Jarrod D. Massey

Lobbyist Pleading Guilty In Alabama Bingo Bribery Case

Ryan J. Reilly | December 20, 2010, 3:55PM

An Alabama lobbyist who the government alleged bribed Alabama legislators to support a bill that would benefit the gambling industry will plead guilty and has worked out a deal with federal prosecutors, according to court documents.

Jarrod D. Massey will plead guilty to conspiracy to several counts (including federal programs bribery and aiding and abetting) for allegedly offering $200,000 dollars in campaign contributions, $1 million dollars for legislator's discretionary use, an undetermined amount in campaign contributions and $2 million in campaign support and services to legislators for their votes, according to a notice of intent to plead guilty filed by his lawyers on Monday. In exchange, federal prosecutors will recommend the honest services and fraud scheme charges against him be dismissed.

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Bingo Bribery

Judge Rules Trial Of Alleged AL Bingo Bribers Can Proceed

Ryan J. Reilly | December 15, 2010, 12:05PM

All 11 defendants in a massive corruption case out of Alabama that has snared several politicians and lobbyists appeared in federal court on Tuesday, where a judge denied a motion of several of the defendants to delay the April trial because their lawyers didn't have enough time to prepare.

Nine of the defendants argued that starting the trial on April 4 would be unfair because they'll need more time to go through 2,800 telephone calls and 200,000 pages of documents turned over by the prosecution. Court records show the motion was denied.

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Alabama

Indicted Casino Owner: But Campaign Contributions Can't Be Bribes!

Rachel Slajda | November 24, 2010, 3:09PM

A casino owner indicted on charges of bribery and honest services fraud is trying to get 11 of his 33 counts thrown out, arguing that campaign contributions don't count as bribery.

Federal prosecutors say that Milton McGregor, a businessman with controlling stakes in two Alabama casinos, hired lobbyists to bribe state politicians into supporting electronic gambling legislation. A fellow businessman, the lobbyists and four state legislators were also indicted in the sweep.

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Beth Chapman

AL Secretary Of State Offers Reward For Voter Fraud Reports

Rachel Slajda | November 1, 2010, 3:49PM

Alabama Secretary of State Beth Chapman

Alabama Secretary of State Beth Chapman, who is up for re-election this year, announced today that her office is offering a $5,000 reward for reports of voter fraud that lead to a felony conviction.

"Alabamians are fed up with voter fraud and have decided that enough is enough. They want to protect democracy from those who are destroying it," Chapman, a Republican, said in a press release. "I hope that people with information will come forward so that justice can be served."

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Bobby Bright

Bobby Bright Received Donations From Defendants In Bingo Bribe Case

Ryan J. Reilly | October 8, 2010, 3:29PM

Rep. Bobby Bright (D-AL).

Rep. Bobby Bright (D-AL) -- the freshman Blue Dog who joked that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi "might even get sick and die" -- received campaign donations from at least three of the defendants who were indicted this week in an FBI bribery probe in Alabama, while a fourth defendant was a key supporter during his 2008 Congressional campaign, Roll Call reported.

As we told you earlier this week, eleven people in Alabama, including four current state legislators, three lobbyists and two businessmen with casino interests, have been charged for their roles in an alleged conspiracy to influence pro-electronic bingo state legislation.

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Corruption

Casino Owner's Bidder To Alabama Pols: Don't 'You F**kers F**k Us' On Bingo Bill

Ryan J. Reilly | October 4, 2010, 4:16PM

Eleven people -- including four current Alabama state legislators, three lobbyists and two businessmen with casino interests -- were charged Monday for their roles in an alleged conspiracy to influence pro-gambling state legislation. FBI agents arrested seven as of mid-Monday, and federal officials said the rest of those named in the wide-ranging probe would be in custody by the end of the day.

Conversations unveiled in the indictment released Monday by the Justice Department and the FBI show that Alabama politicians and lobbyists allegedly used hard ball tactics and salty language that could make even former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich blush.

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Don Siegelman

Supreme Court Orders Review Of Siegelman Conviction By Lower Court

Justin Elliott | June 29, 2010, 10:40AM

Fmr. Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman

The Supreme Court has ordered a lower court to take a new look at the controversial conviction of former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman in the wake of its ruling last week narrowing the scope of a key public corruption statute that was used in the Siegelman case.

Siegelman was convicted in 2006 on charges of bribery and honest services fraud, the statute that was limited by the court last week. Siegelman was found to have given former HealthSouth executive Richard Scrushy a seat on a state board regulating hospitals in exchange for $500,000 in donations to a state lottery campaign.

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Amy Bishop

Alabama Professor Charged With Murder In Disputed 1986 Shooting

Justin Elliott | June 16, 2010, 6:03PM

Amy Bishop

Amy Bishop, the Alabama biology professor who allegedly shot three colleagues to death in February, was indicted today in Massachusetts for the murder of her brother at their Braintree, Massachusetts, home in 1986.

As TPMmuckraker has reported, the shooting of Bishop's brother Seth was presented as an accident at the time. She was not charged. But after the alleged Alabama shootings this year, media reports indicated the investigation of the 1986 incident was rife with irregularities.

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Amy Bishop

Ex-Police Chief Flips: Maybe Something Was Awry In '86 Bishop Shooting Case

Justin Elliott | February 16, 2010, 12:13PM

Former Braintree Police Chief John Polio

The former Braintree, Mass., chief of police who is said to have ordered Amy Bishop released the day she killed her brother -- and then threatened at least two people with a shotgun while frantically searching for a getaway vehicle -- now says he may have made the wrong decision.

John Polio's new comments in an interview with the Boston Globe are a marked shift from his earlier insistence that the process was handled properly. Polio previously rejected that there was any cover-up and that any records were missing in the 1986 case.

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Parker Griffith

Former Dem Threatened With Legal Action Over Last-Minute Voter Data Download

Justin Elliott | December 29, 2009, 1:11PM

Rep. Parker Griffith (R-AL)

The Alabama Democratic Party is drafting a letter to Rep. Parker Griffith (R-AL) threatening legal action if he does not delete voter data the Dems say was improperly accessed by Griffith operatives on the eve of his party switch.

Jim Spearman, executive director of the Alabama Democratic Party, tells TPMmuckraker he plans to send the letter to Griffith and Main Street Strategies, the consulting firm accused of downloading the confidential information, today.

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