Southern Poverty Law Center

Alabama Democratic Party chair commends Merrill for expanding absentee voting

Alabama Democratic Party chairman, State Rep. Chris England, D-Tuscaloosa, commended Secretary of State John Merrill for expanding absentee voting opportunities ahead of August municipal elections and the Nov. 3 general election. Merrill used his emergency powers to expand absentee voting opportunities by allowing individuals to use a health excuse based on the COVID-19 pandemic for … Continued

Brandon Moseley

July 21, 2020

SPLC urges Congress to pass the “NO BAN Act”

The Southern Poverty Law Center’s president and CEO, Margaret Huang, sent a letter to all members of Congress, urging representatives to support the “National Origin-Based Antidiscrimination for Nonimmigrants Act” — or the “NO BAN Act” — which is scheduled for a vote in the U.S. House on Wednesday. “The unnecessary, cruel entry bans have dramatically … Continued

Brandon Moseley

July 21, 2020

Hundreds denied parole as Alabama’s COVID-19 crisis worsens

White people in Alabama prisons were 2.6 times more likely to be paroled than Black people during the month of June, according to the SPLC.

Eddie Burkhalter

July 20, 2020

Pastor and Civil Rights leader C. T. Vivian has died

Martin Luther King Jr. called Vivian “the greatest preacher to ever live.”

Brandon Moseley

July 18, 2020

Cannabis advocates troubled by veteran’s 5-year sentence for medical marijuana

The Alabama Cannabis Industry Association on Monday released a statement critical of the decision by an Alabama court to imprison an Arizona man for five years after his probation for a 2016 marijuana arrest was revoked in April. Sean Worsley was an Iraq War vet who legally uses marijuana for post-traumatic stress disorder, and for … Continued

Brandon Moseley

July 14, 2020

Alabama lawmaker pre-files legislation to allow removal of Confederate monuments

If passed, the measure would permit counties and cities to relocate historic monuments currently located on public property.

Brandon Moseley

July 8, 2020

Supreme Court sides with Alabama in COVID-19 voting case

The U.S. Supreme Court in a 5-4 decision Thursday blocked a federal district judge’s order that would have made it easier for many Alabamians to vote during the pandemic, issuing an emergency stay of the lower court’s injunction in People First of Alabama v. Merrill. The court’s more liberal justices dissented, while the five conservative … Continued

Brandon Moseley

July 3, 2020

Federal appeals court rules against Alabama in COVID-19 voting case

Judges on the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals turned down the state of Alabama’s appeal to the court over a federal judge’s ruling lifting a statewide ban on curbside voting and waiving certain absentee ballot requirements for voters in at least Jefferson, Mobile, and Lee Counties for the July 14 runoff. U.S. Circuit judges Jill … Continued

Eddie Burkhalter

June 25, 2020

Court asked to intervene to address understaffing in Alabama prisons

Attorneys for the plaintiffs in a lawsuit against the Alabama Department of Corrections in a Wednesday court filing argued that the state is woefully behind on court-ordered hiring of correctional officers for the state’s overcrowded, understaffed prisons, and they asked for more court intervention. It has been more than two years since U.S. District Judge … Continued

Eddie Burkhalter

June 24, 2020

SPLC condemns racial threat of noose found in Black NASCAR driver’s stall

The Southern Poverty Law Center responded to the discovery of a noose in the garage stall of a Black NASCAR driver on Sunday. Lecia Brooks, SPLC’s chief workplace transformation officer, in a statement Monday expressed concern over the use of a noose in an act of racial intimidation against Bubba Wallace, the only Black driver … Continued

Eddie Burkhalter

June 23, 2020