The people's voice of reason
The people's voice of reason
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My father was in the Air Force, and I spent my childhood, moving from base to base, city to city and country to country. We lived in Germany, Portugal, Turkey and West Pakistan, and toured the world from the U.S. to Europe, the Middle East, India and Korea. A saying in our family was, "It's June, time to pack." The exposure to different foods from around the world influenced what I like to eat and how I prepare it. I used a mix of flavors in some of the dishes I prepared for food competitions, e...
Law Enforcement now generally needs a warrant to search an arrestee’s cell phone according to a new U.S. Supreme Court ruling. Over the years the Supreme Court has had a difficult time trying to fashion concrete rules on searches and seizures that law enforcement officers can clearly understand when it comes to what they can do and cannot do. This problem goes back about 100 years when the Court ruled in Weeks v. U.S. that the Fourth Amendment permits officers “to search the person of the acc...
The 1978 Governor’s race between the three heavyweights, former Governor Albert Brewer, Attorney General Bill Baxley, and Lt. Governor Jere Beasley, was expected to be titanic. All three men had last names beginning with the letter “B.” The press coined the phrase “the three B’s.” The Republicans were relegated to insignificance on the gubernatorial stage. The winner of the Democratic Primary would be governor. Meanwhile, over in east Alabama, a little known former Auburn halfback named Fob Jame...
I recently read an article in the American Bar Association Journal online concerning a speech that United States Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts gave recently about the significance of the Magna Carta. As you may recall, many of the Barons in England were disgruntled with the King John I. What they really wanted to do was to replace King John but they didn’t have a favorable replacement. As an alternative, King John met them at Runnymede on the bank of the River Thames, which is not far...
Film crews arrived at the Capitol recently to shoot the closing scenes from the highly acclaimed movie "Selma" to be released next year. Under sweltering heat, hundreds of extras, along with the stars, listened to Martin Luther King, Jr. inspire the crowd to pursue freedom for all, "Soon, very soon". These exclusive photographs show some of the principle characters and events that inspired the movie. Ava DuVernay, director, was present during the twelve hour long filming....
A past issue of “SHERIFF” magazine had an article titled “Roots”, a historical perspective of the OFFICE OF SHERIFF. This article was one that gave a good perspective of the History of the Office of Sheriff. I would like to pass on parts of this article to you this month. The first of two important characteristics that distinguish the Office of Sheriff from other law enforcement units is its historical roots. In England, the sheriff came into existence around the 9th century. This makes the she...
Apparently the National Make A Will Month runs during August of each year. I have no idea who made it up and didn’t know it existed until I heard a Legal Zoom advertisement. Certainly any month is a good month to have a new Last Will and Testament prepared or rewritten; don’t wait for August to roll around each year to think about it. I have never looked at the Legal Zoom products but I have had internet Wills come my way and they usually are flawed because the maker didn’t understand the statut...
If race was a major issue in 1958, being the racist candidate in 1962 was the only way to be elected governor. With this issue in hand and Wallace’s love for campaigning and remembering names, he would have beaten anybody that year. Big Jim was really no match for Wallace because Big Jim had always been soft on the race issue. He was a true progressive liberal who would not succumb to racial demagoging, but Big Jim had succumbed to alcohol. Leading up to the Governor’s race in 1962, while Wallac...
A recent Fortune magazine article ranks Alabama as one of the top ten states when it comes to corruption. We were ranked number six. The rankings were determined by a study of convictions of public officials for violations of federal corruption laws between 1976 and 2008. A good many of our sister southern states also made the list. Not surprisingly Louisiana came in at number two. They are a perennial corruption leader. It is part of their culture. They are proud of their status as one of the...
The Alabama Gun act is now a year old and we continue to receive questions about it. I will reprint an article I did last July in an attempt to help the public with this law. The Alabama Gun Act of 2013, formally known as SB 286 and Act 2013-283, was signed into law by Governor Bentley on May 21, 2013. It came into effect on AUGUST 1, 2013. This bill was a compromise between the NRA, the legislature, Alabama Sheriff’s Association, the District Attorney’s Association and other law enf...
If done in a manner of disrespect, patriotically and emotionally I would think that it would be criminal and I would say give that individual a chance to live in another country! The United States Code §43-1-8 says: Sec. 8. Respect for flag ...No disrespect should be shown to the flag of the United States of America; the flag should not be dipped to any person or thing. Regimental colors, State flags, and organization or institutional flags are to be dipped as a mark of honor. (a) The flag shoul...
Prime Burglary season will soon be here again as the summer days approach. It is time to assess our homes and businesses to make sure that we are secure and we have a record of our belongings. It is also time to consider joining a Neighbor Watch program. Neighborhood watch, block watch, town watch, whatever the title, initiatives are one of the better ways to prevent crime, attend to home and personal security, address the safety of our children as well as reduce fear and isolation. Civic...
You know the results of Tuesday’s primary elections. However, my column had to go to press prior to Tuesday’s vote. Therefore, we will discuss and analyze the outcome next week. It is doubtful that there were any surprises. Gov. Robert Bentley more than likely waltzed to the GOP nomination. He will probably face Parker Griffith in this fall’s General Election. Ironically, both Griffith and Bentley are 72-year-old retired physicians. It is not likely that matchup has ever occurred in an Alaba...
The Alabama Legislature has gone home for another year. The gunman for the NRA is gone and his latest bill that would allow anybody to carry a handgun in a vehicle without a permit died in committee in the house. I hope that we have heard the last from Senator Scott Beason. The gun laws remains the same as passed last year, you still need a permit to carry a handgun inside of your vehicle which, to me, is good for the public as well as law enforcement. I just don't understand why a law abiding...
Early on it appeared that the best political races of the year would be for legislative seats. Indeed, with this being a lackluster year for statewide contests there are some good senate races throughout the state to watch. Most of these hotly contested battles will be intraparty GOP squabbles. Senate District 11, which is composed primarily of St. Clair and Talladega Counties, may be the best race to watch. Incumbent State Sen. Jerry Fielding is being challenged by State Rep. Jim McClendon. Fie...
Spring is upon us and so are the con artists. Recently we have received many calls about a few different types of cons. One set of these criminals call your house and will tell you several things to try and get you to send them money. They often identify themselves as a Sheriff, Deputy Sheriff or an investigator. There are many different versions but the main con is they tell you that you have a warrant for your arrest and you need to send them money before you are arrested. They know many...
Readers like me, a little ‘long in the tooth,’ will more easily make the connection to the Jimmy Stewart film Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. Considered controversial when released in 1939 yet so successful at the box office, this classic is oft cited as the film which made Stewart an undisputed movie star. Similar to another Frank Capra directed movie “It’s a Wonderful Life” [1946] it would take many years to be recognized and appreciated. In 1989 the Library of Congress added Mr. Smith to the US...
Here he goes again. Senator Scott Beason of Gardendale, is trying to pass legislation that would allow anybody to carry a handgun in a car without a permit. We went through this last year with the new gun bill that was a compromise by law enforcement, the Legislature, and the NRA. I don’t think that he knows the impact that this legislation will have on the safety of the public as well as law enforcement. I know that the members of the Legislature receive a copy of the “ Gazette” and I plead...
A special publication by the Alabama Gazette....
A colleague told about her daughter scooping up the snow in her hands and eating it. Her mom told her not to do this since the snow had dirt and grass in it. The little girl, recently diagnosed with diabetes and pretty adept at watching carbs, said, "But mommy, snow doesn't have any carbs!" Her mom relented and told her to enjoy this treat. This story reminded me of a childhood long ago when we were warned not to eat snow cream--a concoction our parents made with snow, sugar and milk. The...
This a partial repeat of an article that I wrote a year or so ago. People are fed up with crime and even though crime is reported to have dropped from last year, it is still there. Most law enforcement officials will tell you that the greatest percentage of the crime is committed by a very small percentage of criminals. They are repeat offenders who continue to commit crime, time after time. They get arrested, make bail and are out doing the same thing time and again. Their crimes finally catch...
7 is here and the Alabama Legislature will shortly be meeting to consider what bills will and will not pass. This is an election year so I really don't think that our representatives and senators will tackle too many controversial bills and I will bet that they will adjourn early enough this year to get home and begin to politic. I guess this is a good thing because they will not be considering more laws that are not needed but appear only because of special interest groups who can afford to...
January 8, 2014 The 2014 Legislative Session begins next week. The session starts early in the fourth year of the quadrennium because it is an election year. Legislators want to come in and get out early so that they can go home and campaign. Usually legislatures do not do much other than pass the budgets in a campaign year session. They especially do not try to tackle any controversial issues that could stir up any ire with voters. However, this current group of legislators will tackle...
In the true spirit of the holiday season, a group of Judson College students handed out gifts to patients at the Davita Marion-Perry Dialysis Center. The gifts were presented by members of the school's Tri-Beta Club on December 6. Eleven college students distributed 30 gift-bags, each bag containing toiletries, socks, blankets, puzzle books, pens and paper. The school's nursing club provided scarves and gloves for the bags. The students also sang Christmas carols for the patients. "Judson's...
Believe it or not we are approaching the fourth year of this legislative quadrennium. The legislature will meet early next year because it is an election year. All 140 seats in the House and Senate are up for election in 2014. These legislators were elected in 2010. Most of them are Republicans. The GOP owns a two to one super majority in both the House and Senate. These folks are not just Republicans in name only, sometimes referred to as “RINOs.” They are real Republicans. They are con...
