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A close-up of police lights. The Justice Information Commission says about 15% of law enforcement agencies in the state have not reported crime statistics, and are planning to summon them to the commission for questioning. (Getty) The Alabama Justice Information Commission said Thursday that dozens of jurisdictions in the state have not yet reported incidents of crime, and plan to pressure local law enforcement agencies for the numbers. Members of the Alabama Justice Information Commission Thursday voted to summon police departments, sheriffs’ offices and other law enforcement agencies before the commission to explain why they have not electronically submitted their monthly crime data to the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency, at the risk losing access to a criminal justice information database used to review the information of people they detain as part of their operations. “You all told us we need to do something to start reminding agencies that they have to report crime to us, so we...

Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall speaks at the Alabama County Commission Association convention at the Perdido Beach Resort in Orange Beach, Alabama, on Aug. 20, 2025. (Anna Barrett/Alabama Reflector) It’s hard to listen to former Alabama Attorney General Bill Baxley without thinking about what we’ve lost. Earlier this month, Baxley, who served in the office from 1971 to 1979, spoke at an Southern Poverty Law Center-sponsored event in Birmingham, where he discussed his prosecution of Robert “Dynamite Bob” Chambliss for the 1963 bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church. It was nothing new for Baxley. He’s discussed the prosecution on TV shows, on  National Public Radio and in a Spike Lee documentary . GET THE MORNING HEADLINES. SUBSCRIBE “This time with the death of four children in the house of worship, I thought that exceeded all the bad deeds,” he said  at the event . As anyone with a conscience would. But we should remember the difficult work between ...

The U.S. Capitol building and Washington Monument in Washington, D.C., at sunset on Oct. 14, 2025. (Photo by Jennifer Shutt/States Newsroom) WASHINGTON — Some members of Congress are asking for their salaries to be withheld during the government shutdown, while federal workers on Friday missed their first full paycheck since many operations closed on Oct. 1. With no movement toward a deal to end the shutdown, the House remained on a prolonged break from Capitol Hill, the Senate left for its usual long weekend and President Donald Trump prepared to depart for a trip to China, where he will likely focus much more on foreign policy and tariffs than the funding lapse.  The president, lawmakers and federal judges all receive their regular paychecks during government shutdowns, unlike the 2 million civilian federal employees and thousands of staffers who work in the legislative branch. Members of Congress are paid $174,000 a year and leaders are paid more. Active duty military membe...

Nonprofits working to combat domestic violence and sexual assault have notched a string of legal wins as they push back against efforts by the Trump administration to put restrictions on work that goes against the administration’s views. (Emily Scheer for The 19th) This story was originally reported by Mel Leonor Barclay and Jasmine Mithani of The 19th . Meet Mel and Jasmine and read more of their reporting on gender, politics and policy. Nonprofits working to combat domestic violence and sexual assault have notched a string of legal wins as they push back against efforts by the Trump administration to put restrictions on work that goes against the administration’s views. A series of lawsuits has, at least temporarily, blocked the administration from enforcing restrictions on millions of dollars of funding for upcoming grants and forced it to return grants it took away from some nonprofits working with LGBTQ+ victims. Domestic violence groups and the broader network of gender-...

A woman embraces her children as they visit the remains of their home, which burned in the Eaton Fire in Altadena, Calif., early this year. The wildfires in California earlier this year overwhelmed the state-managed, “last resort” insurance pool known as the FAIR Plan. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images) In recent years, hundreds of thousands of Californians have purchased home insurance from a state-managed “last resort” insurance pool that has grown rapidly as private insurance companies have fled the market. Now, in the wake of the devastating Los Angeles wildfires earlier this year, the Fair Access to Insurance Requirements (FAIR) Plan is seeking approval from the state for an average 36% rate hike, which would further squeeze homeowners who have no other options for coverage. Insurance experts say it’s a national warning sign, as the effects of climate change cause private insurance companies to pull back on coverage in disaster-prone areas, leaving states and their residents t...

Kilmar Abrego Garcia speaks to a crowd of people who held a prayer vigil and rally on his behalf outside the Immigration and Customs Enforcement building in Baltimore on Aug. 25, 2025. Lydia Walther Rodriguez with CASA interprets for him. (Photo by William J. Ford/Maryland Matters) WASHINGTON — The Trump administration Friday identified the West African nation of Liberia as the location for the removal of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, noting his deportation could come as soon as Oct. 31.  In a Friday court filing in the District of Maryland, the Department of Justice argued that Liberia is a close partner with the United States and that the federal government has received assurances from  Liberia that Abrego Garcia will not be harmed if he is deported there. They added that Abrego Garcia, who has a wife and family in Maryland, has not expressed fear of being removed to Liberia. “Although Petitioner has identified more than twenty countries that he purports to fear would persecut...