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Robin “Rocky” Myers was sentenced to death in 1994. Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey commuted his death sentence on Friday, Feb. 28. Gov. Kay Ivey will spare the life of Robin “Rocky” Myers who used to be on death row and would have eventually been executed. Ivey announced on Friday that she had commuted Myers’ sentence to life with no chance of parole after he was convicted of capital murder in 1991 for his role in the death of Ludi Mae Tucker. She said in a statement that she still believes in the death penalty but had reservations about Myers’ death sentence. “In short, I am not convinced that Mr. Myers is innocent, but I am not so convinced of his guilt as to approve of his execution,” Ivey also said. “I therefore must respect both the jury’s decision to convict him and its recommendation that he be sentenced to life without parole.” Myers’ legal team praised the decision. “I’m not sure there are words enough to convey my joy, relief, and gratitude at learning of Gov. Ivey’s decision t...

Alabama Senate convenes for a session, Feb. 25, 2005. (Photo/Stew Milne for the Alabama Reflector) Here is a list of the bills that passed in the Alabama Legislature this week. Feb. 25 House HB 73 , sponsored by Rep. Patrick Sellers, D-Pleasant Grove, prohibits the possession of a trigger activator in Jefferson County, which enables a firearm to shoot automatically without manual reloading. It passed 25-0. The bill now goes to the Senate. HB 101 , sponsored by Rep. Mark Shirey, R-Mobile, allows the Mobile County sheriff to create guidelines for using the Sheriff’s Office credit or debit card. It passed 16-0. The bill now goes to the Senate. HB 104 , sponsored by Rep. Barbara Drummond, D-Mobile, allows the governing body of a Class 2 municipality to determine whether debris is a public nuisance and remove it. It passed 29-0. The bill now goes to the Senate. HB 269 , sponsored by Rep. Alan Treadaway, R-Morris, expands the boundary lines in Morris to include the corporate limits o...

Rep. Ron Bolton, R-Northport, sits on the floor of the Alabama House of Representatives on May 9, 2024 at the Alabama Statehouse in Montgomery, Alabama. His bill to update car seat regulations failed on the House floor on Feb. 27, 2025. (Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector) A bill that would update safety regulations for children in vehicles for the first time in almost 20 years failed on the House floor on Thursday.  HB 18 , sponsored by Rep. Ron Bolton, R-Northport, requires 2-year-old children who are 35 pounds and lighter to be in rear-facing car seats, which is an increase from 20 pounds. The bill received bipartisan pushback. Rep. Terri Collins, R-Decatur, expressed concern about a 2-year-old fitting in a rear-facing car seat.  “Their legs may not fit in the car seat,” she said. “A 2-year-old, usually, if they can look around, distract and learn, there’s a really good thing about learning from that environment and just looking out. Facing the back of that seat … I just hav...

Rep. Cynthia Almond, R-Tuscaloosa, speaks to a colleague on the floor of the Alabama House of Representatives on Feb. 20, 2025 at the Alabama Statehouse in Montgomery, Alabama. Almond sponsors a bill that would require participants of unpermitted events to reimburse municipalities. (Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector) A bill that would require participants of unpermitted events to reimburse municipalities passed the Alabama House Thursday 70-22. HB 280 , sponsored by Rep. Cynthia Almond, R-Tuscaloosa, requires participants to reimburse a plaintiff when a gathering is unpermitted and is disbanded. She said that it often costs municipalities thousands of dollars to shut down unpermitted parties. “The city of Tuscaloosa, for example, will spend upwards of $100,000 on a weekend shutting down these parties,” she said. “There are extraordinary costs that we don’t think the taxpayers should have to bear the burden of.” Almond said the bill mainly applies to gatherings that sell alcohol withou...

Rep. Rex Reynolds, R-Huntsville (left) listens to Rep. Russell Bedsole, R-Alabaster on the floor of the Alabama House of Representatives on Feb. 13, 2025 at the Alabama Statehouse in Montgomery, Alabama. The House Judiciary Committee approved his bill expanding police immunity. (Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector) An Alabama House Committee passed legislation Wednesday that enhances immunity for law enforcement officers despite the objections raised by civil rights advocates and Democrats during a public hearing the week before. The House Judiciary Committee approved HB 202 , sponsored by Rep. Rex Reynolds, R-Huntsville, would set a new, heightened standard for holding officers accountable for wrongdoing. It also establishes additional legal proceedings that could impede members of the public who are seeking damages, or prevent prosecutors from obtaining convictions when officers misbehave or cause injuries, perhaps even death. “I think we have done a good job working with the represent...

The Frank M. Johnson Jr. Federal Building and United States Courthouse in Montgomery, Alabama, seen on January 24, 2023. A federal judge sanctioned three lawyers for allegedly manipulating case assignments in a lawsuit over the state’s ban on gender-affirming care for minors. (Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector) A federal judge in Alabama issued an order reprimanding three attorneys for allegedly judge-shopping in the youth gender-affirming care case against the state. U.S. District Judge Liles C. Burke concluded attorneys Melody Eagan, Jeffrey Doss and Carl Charles acted in bad faith to manipulate the court’s random case-assignment procedures during a “high-profile” challenge to a state law banning certain medical treatments for transgender minors. The 2022 law criminalizes the prescription of puberty blockers and hormone therapies for transgender youth. “Enough is enough. Judges are not political operatives. To the contrary, the integrity of the justice system rests on the steadfast c...

Sen. April Weaver, R-Alabaster, watches a vote in the Alabama Senate on Feb. 13, 2025 at the Alabama Statehouse in Montgomery, Alabama. Weaver said the proposed ban on recreational sale and possession of inhalants like laughing gas and poppers is aimed at curbing youth use. (Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector) An Alabama House committee passed a bill that would outlaw the sale and possession of inhalants for recreational use, such as laughing gas and poppers. SB 78 , sponsored by Sen. April Weaver, R-Alabaster, passed the House Health Committee on a voice vote. The bill would prohibit the sale and possession of nitrous oxide, commonly known as “laughing gas,” except under specific circumstances, citing concerns over youth addiction and misuse. It would also ban amyl nitrite, also referred to as “poppers,” and mixtures of butyl nitrate, or “whippets.” “Right now, your children can buy this with no age restrictions in gas stations in any flavor that they want: mango, blueberry, raspberry,...

Rep. Phillip Pettus, R-Killen, discusses a bill to cap property tax increases on the floor of the Alabama House of Representatives on April 9, 2024 at the Alabama Statehouse in Montgomery, Alabama. He sponsored a bill that requires minors who commit murder or capital murder to be tried as adults. (Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector) An Alabama House committee Wednesday approved legislation that requires the court to prosecute people age 16 and older as adults when they are charged with murder. The House Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee approved HB 146 — sponsored by Rep. Phillip Pettus, R-Killen — which would prohibit a judge from granting youthful offender status to minors who are at least 16-years-old at the time of the offense if they are charged with murder. The current statute states that individuals who are younger than 19 may be tried as youthful offenders. “If they are charged with murder, under this bill they would not be eligible to be a youthful offender,” Pettu...

Rep. Juandalynn Givan, D-Birmingham, speaks during a debate in the Alabama House of Representatives on Feb. 11, 2025 at the Alabama Statehouse in Montgomery, Alabama. She sponsors a bill that would require local law enforcement agencies to annually report how many sworn-in officers they’ve employed to the state. (Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector) A bill that would require local law enforcement agencies to annually report how many sworn-in officers they’ve employed to the state passed the Alabama House unanimously on Tuesday. Rep. Juandalynn Givan, D-Birmingham, who sponsored HB 287 , said it is the public’s right to know how many officers are protecting them. She said most of Alabama’s crime in 2024 happened in Montgomery and Birmingham. “I got people dying,” she said in an interview Tuesday. “Sixty to seventy percent of the people that are dying in the city of Birmingham are in the district that I represent.” Rep. Alan Treadaway, R-Birmingham, serves on a committee that looks into ...

Rep. Matt Woods, R-Jasper, stands in the Alabama House of Representatives on May 8, 2024 at the Alabama Statehouse in Montgomery, Alabama. Woods sponsors a bill that would create a nontraditional high school diploma program. It passed the House unanimously on Feb. 25, 2025. (Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector) A bill that would create a nontraditional high school diploma program for people who have dropped out passed the Alabama House unanimously on Tuesday. HB 266 , sponsored by Rep. Matt Woods, R-Jasper, allows former students to enroll in a program to earn the equivalent of a high school diploma at 18 years old. Woods said the Restoring Educational Advancement of Completing High School Act expands the options for people who’ve dropped out to get back on track with their education. “This bill addresses a segment of our population that’s falling between the cracks,” Woods said. “We believe that we can help them pursue their educational pathway.” There is a nontraditional diploma optio...

Rep. Parker Moore, R-Hartselle, stands on the floor of the Alabama House of Representatives on April 25, 2024 at the Alabama Statehouse in Montgomery, Alabama. The House Judiciary Committee approved a bill Moore sponsored to make it easier for people with criminal records to get an occupational license(Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector) An Alabama House committee Wednesday approved a bill that would make it easier for people convicted of a crime to obtain a license or job certification from an occupational licensing board. HB 238 , sponsored by Rep. Parker Moore, R-Hartselle, allows people to apply for a petition of limited relief to a court that, and if granted, presumes that the person has been rehabilitated and prohibits an occupational licensing board from automatically disqualifying the individual from receiving a license. “Currently, we are the sixth fastest growing state in the country, and workforce development is one area we are working on addressing issues with,” Moore told t...

The entrance to the Alabama House of Representatives on May 9, 2024 at the Alabama Statehouse in Montgomery, Alabama. Gov. Kay Ivey Monday called a special election to fill the House District 11 seat in Cullman and Blount counties. (Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector) Gov. Kay Ivey Monday set a special election date for House District 11 in Cullman and Blount counties. The seat became vacant after former Rep. Randall Shedd, R-Fairview, resigned on Feb. 17 to be Senate Pro Tem Garland Gudger’s director of constituent affairs. District 11 is solidly Republican. Shedd, who won the seat in a 2013 special election, never faced opposition in any subsequent general election . The district takes in eastern Cullman County and most of northern Blount County. GET THE MORNING HEADLINES. SUBSCRIBE The primary election will be on May 13, with primary runoff on June 10, if needed, according to a press release from the governor’s office. The general election will be on Aug. 26.  The dea...

Students in a New York City public school classroom are seen here with their cellphones. New York is one of many states joining a wave of others proposing statewide cellphone bans and restrictions in schools. (Michael Loccisano/Getty Images) Across the country, state lawmakers are finding rare bipartisan ground on an increasingly urgent issue for educators and parents: banning cellphone use in schools. Fueling these bans is growing research on the harmful effects of smartphone and social media use on the mental health and academic achievement of grade to high school students. In 2024, at least eight states — California, Idaho, Indiana, Louisiana, Minnesota, Ohio, South Carolina and Virginia — either expanded or adopted policies or laws to curtail cellphone use in schools. GET THE MORNING HEADLINES. SUBSCRIBE This year, lawmakers in Alabama, Georgia, Maryland, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, Texas and Wisconsin have proposed bans moving in their state legi...

The skyline of Huntsville, Alabama. A spokesperson for Huntsville Utilities told Inside Climate News on Friday that federal funds have been restored to the 255 households that received letters earlier this month saying that an executive order from President Donald Trump had canceled a low-income energy assistance program. (Sean Pavone/Getty Images) This article originally appeared on Inside Climate News , a nonprofit, non-partisan news organization that covers climate, energy and the environment. Sign up for their newsletter here . A program meant to help low-income Alabamians pay their utility bills has resumed two weeks after it was canceled due to an executive order from President Donald Trump. The Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs, which administers the grants, told Inside Climate News this week in a one-sentence email that it “has resumed the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program – Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.” The department did not res...