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Medicaid work requirements struck down for NH, still pending for Alabama

On July 29 of this year, a federal judge struck down New Hampshire’s Medicaid work requirements. In 2018, Alabama proposed a Section 1115 Medicaid waiver to the federal government to institute similar work requirements.  Alabama’s work requirements have yet to receive necessary federal approval to and have thus not been put into practice, unlike New … Continued
August 7, 2019

Alabama Education Association files lawsuit against Soner Tarim

The Alabama Education Association has filed a lawsuit through its members and affiliate in Washington County against Soner Tarim, a Texas-based man seeking to open a charter school in rural southwest Alabama. Tarim is the CEO of Unity School Services and was the founder of Harmony Schools, a charter school network in Texas.  The lawsuit … Continued
August 2, 2019

Advocates, veterans sue to speed benefits for ‘Blue Water’ vets

Advocates for “blue water” veterans filed a federal lawsuit last week demanding action on the expansion of disability benefits that the government has said must wait until next year.  Navy veterans who sailed off the coast of Vietnam who have for decades awaited benefits due to Agent Orange exposure will have to wait until at … Continued
July 31, 2019

Merrill removes Russell County registrar from office for cause

On Tuesday, July 16, Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill removed a member of the Russell County Board of Registrars for cause. The case went before an objective administrative law judge, who, after hearing the case, made a formal recommendation to the secretary of state to remove the registrar. According to Alabama law, the secretary … Continued
July 23, 2019

Brooks says El Chapo should pay for border wall

Congressman Mo Brooks, R-Huntsville, said on Thursday that Congress should pass his bill to use the billions of seized drug cartel profits from convicted drug lord Joaquín Archivaldo Guzmán Loera, or “El Chapo,” to pay for construction of the border wall on the U.S.-Mexico border. “Drug kingpin ‘El Chapo’ was ordered to forfeit more than … Continued
July 23, 2019

Marshall County woman receives 18-year sentence for sexual exploitation of a child

A federal judge sentenced Anna Marie Gomez, 31, of Marshall County on Wednesday for sexual exploitation of a child. The sentence was announced by U.S. Attorney Jay Town and U.S. Immigration and Custom Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations Assistant Special Agent in Charge James Hernandez. U.S. District Judge Abdul Kallon sentenced Gomez to 18 years in … Continued
July 22, 2019

Donald Watkins Sr. hit with millions in fines in SEC fraud case

A federal judge in Georgia has ordered Alabama attorney and businessman Donald V. Watkins Sr. to pay “the Securities and Exchange Commission $5 million for defrauding former NBA star Charles Barkley and other investors out of millions of dollars,” according to a report filed by Law360. This latest legal blow accompanies Watkins’ conviction on federal fraud … Continued
July 15, 2019

SPLC responds to Trump’s census press conference and executive action

On Thursday, the Southern Poverty Law Center welcomed President Donald Trump’s decision earlier that day to end his administration’s fight to include a citizenship question on the 2020 census.  Trump did so at a press conference Thursday afternoon at the White House rose garden, putting an end to a 19-month battle that followed several legal … Continued
July 15, 2019