The V: Tackles clemency, school prayer, PSC overhaul, GOP infighting

Governor Kay Ivey’s decision to commute the death sentence of Charles L. “Sonny” Burton to life without parole set the tone for a forceful episode of “The Voice of Alabama Politics” this week as host Bill Britt and panelists Susan Britt and Josh Moon examined several of Alabama’s most pressing political fights.

Opening the program, Britt called Ivey’s action “one of the most courageous acts I have seen the governor do here in Alabama,” noting Burton was not the triggerman in the 1991 Talladega killing that sent him to death row.

Susan Britt agreed.

“I really did not think she would do it. I really did not. But she did it, she did it for the right reasons,” she said, pointing to the sentencing disparity at the center of the case. “The man who pulled the trigger got life without parole while Mr. Burton got the death penalty.”

Moon more directly criticized Attorney General Steve Marshall’s opposition to the commutation.

“I’ve yet to really find anyone who wanted Sonny Burton to be killed other than Steve Marshall,” Moon said.

He argued that while Alabama law allows accomplices in a killing during a felony to face murder charges, the state should impose a “higher standard for capital punishment” in such cases.

Britt closed the segment by invoking English jurist William Blackstone.

“For the law holds that it is better that 10 guilty persons escape than one innocent person suffer a penalty they did not deserve,” Britt said.

The panel then turned to the Alabama House’s approval of legislation requiring the Pledge of Allegiance in public schools and allowing a period of voluntary, student-led prayer.

Britt questioned the logic behind the measure, contrasting it with the state’s continued use of capital punishment.

“How can we want to teach virtue and citizenship when we act like a bunch of brutes?” Britt asked.

Moon called the bill political theater.

“It’s such a pandering to the lowest common denominator,” he said, arguing lawmakers were focusing on symbolic culture-war issues while ignoring deeper problems in public education, including underfunding and school choice policies that divert money from public schools.

Britt went further and called the proposal a form of indoctrination.

“That is nothing short of indoctrination,” he said. “A lot of people don’t want their kids indoctrinated into a particular religious belief.”

The conversation then shifted to the Alabama Republican Party’s internal turmoil following the election of a new chairman.

Britt warned that the party is repeating the same historical mistakes that once destroyed Democratic dominance in Alabama.

“I’ve heard from many, many, many Republicans who have been around for years and they say, this is exactly what the Democrats did,” Britt said.

Moon agreed, saying one-party dominance inevitably breeds factional warfare.

“They’re gonna tear each other limb from limb,” he said. “Ultimately, you’re right. It’s going to harm us overall in getting good things done for the state.”

Susan Britt described some party leaders as “drunk with power,” while Bill Britt said many in the party’s executive ranks were “Jim Jones drunk with drinking the Kool-Aid that is cooked up, mixed up, and served by the most extreme elements of the party.”

The panel also examined legislation to expand the Alabama Public Service Commission from three statewide elected members to seven commissioners elected by congressional district.

Britt called the proposal “a much better bill” than the earlier plan to replace the elected commission with an appointed board.

“It regulates much more strictly and gives people much more voice,” Britt said. “There is no perfection in legislation, but this bill is moving in the right direction.”

Moon agreed the current PSC has failed in its regulatory role, but said many consumers misunderstand what is driving high utility bills.

“We focus so much on these rate things,” he said, “when that’s only about 20 percent or so of their bill,” noting the complexities of power generation.

The show closed with a look at the latest Republican U.S. Senate primary poll, which shows U.S. Representative Barry Moore leading Marshall.

Britt said Marshall’s support appears to be collapsing, while Moon said Moore’s endorsements and momentum have shifted the race.

“With nearly half of voters still undecided, it could go either way,” Britt said. “But right now, Barry Moore is leading.”