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The University of Alabama Student Center on the campus of the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, AL Monday Jan. 13, 2024. Alabama officials defended its anti-DEI law, asserting universities' right to control classroom instruction and campus space in a court filing.(Will McLelland/Alabama Reflector) Alabama officials pushed back against a lawsuit challenging a 2024 anti-diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) law, arguing in a court filing Friday that university policies restricting certain classroom discussions and reallocating “limited campus space” do not violate constitutional rights. Attorneys representing the University of Alabama Board of Trustees and other state officials argued in a 33-page response to a lawsuit seeking to overturn the law, known as SB 129 ,  that universities have the authority to regulate classroom instruction.  “Course content and classroom instruction are government speech subject to regulation by the university, not by interest groups or the...

Sarah Rudolph Collins (center), escorted by her husband (right), hugging her childhood friend Tom Ellison at the MLK Reflections breakfast on March 7, 2025. Rudolph survived the 1963 16th Street Baptist Church bombing, that killed her sister Addie Mae Collins and three other young girls. (Anna Barrett/Alabama Reflector) Sarah Collins Rudolph, a survivor of the 1963 16th Street Baptist Church bombing in Birmingham, said Friday she is still waiting on something more than an apology from the state. “I’ve been trying for so many years to get restitution from the state of Alabama,” Rudolph said Friday at the Martin Luther King reflections breakfast at Auburn University at Montgomery. “Our governor said ‘Well Sarah, you do deserve an apology, but I wasn’t in office at that time.’” Rudolph was 12 years old on the morning of Sept. 15, 1963. She was in the basement lounge of the 16th Street Baptist Church. As her sister Addie Mae Collins, 14, tied a sash on Denise McNair, 14, an explosion r...

Rep. Juandalynn Givan, D-Birmingham, displays a poster board of people killed by gun violence in Birmingham in 2024 during a debate in the Alabama House of Representatives on March 6, 2025 at the Alabama Statehouse in Montgomery, Alabama. The Alabama House Wednesday approved a bill making it a state crime to possess "Glock switches," or devices that turn a semi-automatic firearm into an automatic one. (Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector) The Alabama House of Representatives Thursday approved a bill banning a firearm modification known as a “Glock switch” that converts semi-automatic handguns into fully automatic weapons. SB 116 , sponsored by Sen. Will Barfoot, R-Pike Road, passed the House 77-23. The legislation, the first gun restriction to pass the Alabama House since 2010 , was amended by the chamber and goes back to the Senate for concurrence or a conference committee .  Possession of Glock switches is already a federal crime, but supporters of the bill say making it a s...

Kareem Crayton of the Brennan Center for Justice (right) moderated a panel of southern Democratic legislators at Alabama State University on Thursday March 6, 2025. The panel discussed strategies to navigate Republican supermajorities in state legislatures. (Ralph Chapoco/Alabama Reflector) Democrats serving in super minorities in several southern states said at an Alabama State University forum Thursday that they must microtarget constituents, leverage social media and find ways to change what they feel are harmful laws. The event, sponsored by the Brennan Center for Justice, brought Democratic legislators from Alabama, Tennessee and other states to share tactics. Alabama House Minority Leader Anthony Daniels, D-Huntsville, said he is trying to appeal to constituents who voted for Republicans. GET THE MORNING HEADLINES. SUBSCRIBE “I have been speaking on more right-wing stations in the last two months than I have in the last 10 years, but it is working,” he said. “They fe...

Rep. Thomas Jackson, D-Thomasville (right, at lectern) raises his hand during a debate in the Alabama House of Representatives on March 6, 2025 at the Alabama Statehouse in Montgomery, Alabama. Jackson criticized House Speaker Nathaniel Ledbetter, R-Rainsville (seated, top left) for not recognizing him to speak on a House agenda that included legislation extending police immunity. (Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector) The Alabama House of Representatives passed a bill expanding immunity for law enforcement officers 75-26 after three hours of debate on Thursday in which many Black members of the House shared stories of their encounters with police. HB 202 , sponsored by Rep. Rex Reynolds, R-Huntsville, has changed significantly from its original version . The legislation raises the bar for prosecuting law enforcement. The current standard allows prosecution where law enforcement acts “willfully, maliciously, fraudulently, in bad faith, beyond his or her authority, or under a mistaken inte...

Sen. Rodger Smitherman, D-Birmingham (left) speaks with Sen. April Weaver, R-Alabaster, on the floor of the Alabama Senate on March 4, 2025 at the Alabama Statehouse in Montgomery, Alabama. (Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector) The Alabama Senate Thursday passed legislation aimed at removing barriers to employment for some people with felony convictions. SB 138, sponsored by Sen. Rodger Smitherman, D-Birmingham, would prohibit certain occupational licensing boards from automatically denying licenses based solely on a criminal conviction, unless the crime is directly related to the duties of the profession. A “certificate of employability” would be issued to certain parolees who meet eligibility requirements, such as job skills training while incarcerated and serve as evidence of rehabilitation. The bill was amended during the debate to exempt some health care professionals , such as doctors, dentists and pharmacists, as well as professionals in the banking and insurance industries . ...

Sen. Vivian Davis Figures, D-Mobile, greets people in the Senate gallery in the Alabama Statehouse on March 5, 2025 in Montgomery, Alabama. (Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector) The Alabama Senate on Wednesday passed a bill establishing parental leave for state and public education employees. Currently, state employees must use a combination of sick leave and unpaid time off if they wish to stay home after a child’s birth or adoption. SB 199 , sponsored by Sen. Vivian Davis Figures, D-Mobile would provide up to eight weeks of maternity leave and two weeks of paternity leave to state employees in most cases.  “When a woman has a child, her body goes through a lot,” Figures said after the bill passed. “She has to heal. And it’s not just the physical part of it, but it’s also the mental part of it as well … It’s very important that that woman has that support. It’s also a time that she gets to spend with the father, and they can bond.” GET THE MORNING HEADLINES. SUBSCRIBE Fo...

Sen. Rodger Smitherman, D-Birmingham, speaks with Senate Education Policy Chair Donnie Chesteen, R-Ozark, at the Alabama State House in Montgomery, Alabama, on March 5, 2025. The pair debated a bill from Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur (right) that would allow religious exemption for vaccines without reason. (Anna Barrett/Alabama Reflector) An Alabama Senate committee Wednesday approved a bill that allows parents to claim a religious exemption from vaccination without providing an explanation or allowing a public body to evaluate the claim.  SB 85 , sponsored by Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur, also explicitly allows students at colleges and universities to declare themselves religiously exempt from vaccinations.  “The experience has been many times in these offices, the mom or dad or whoever has taken the child, gets asked about their religious beliefs,” Orr said. GET THE MORNING HEADLINES. SUBSCRIBE The legislation also removes language that suspended religious exemptions...

Rep. Chip Brown, R-Hollinger's Island, casts a vote in the Alabama House of Representatives on April 25, 2024 at the Alabama Statehouse in Montgomery, Alabama. His legislation to enhance criminal penalties for people who are not authorized in the U.S. continues to move through the Alabama Legislature. (Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector) Two Alabama House committees Wednesday approved bills enhancing penalties for crimes committed by people living in the country without legal authorization and one invalidating out-of-state licenses issued to those without legal status. Democrats on the two committees voted against the measures, and immigrant rights groups expressed outrage at some claims made to justify the legislation. “I think the worst part is that it presumes that immigrants are not already punished for crimes,” said Allison Hamilton, executive director of the Alabama Coalition for Immigrant Justice. “There is total misinformation here that, in Alabama, immigrants who are undocu...

A sign outside the Frank M. Johnson Jr. Federal Building and United States Courthouse in Montgomery, Alabama seen on January 24, 2023. A federal judge heard arguments Wednesday in a lawsuit over Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall's threats to prosecute groups helping Alabamians obtain out-of-state abortions. (Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector) A federal judge on Wednesday heard oral arguments in a lawsuit seeking to stop Alabama officials from prosecuting groups and individuals who help residents travel out of state to obtain abortions. The lawsuit, filed by Yellowhammer Fund, West Alabama Women’s Center and others, cites comments made by Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall in 2023 suggesting that organizations aiding out-of-state abortions could face criminal conspiracy charges . The plaintiffs argue that such threats violate their constitutional rights to free speech, association and interstate travel. During the hearing, U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson pressed both ...

Rep. Ed Oliver, R-Dadeville, introduces a bill on unemployment compensation in the Alabama House of Representatives on Feb. 11, 2025 at the Alabama Statehouse in Montgomery, Alabama. (Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector) An Alabama Senate committee Tuesday approved a bill that would increase the number of job contacts a person needs to make to maintain unemployment benefits. HB 29, sponsored by Rep. Ed Oliver, R-Dadeville, would require people to contact at least five potential employers, up from the current three, to maintain unemployment benefits. The bill provides an exception for people living in counties with less than 20,000 residents, who would still be required to contact at least three potential employers. “We have 127,000 open jobs across the state, and this presumably would require people to look more for jobs and available employment, rather than just taking three a week,” said Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur, who introduced the bill to the committee. GET THE MORNING HEADLINES...

Rep. Susan DuBose, R-Hoover, speaking with Rep. Ernie Yarbrough, R-Trinity, in the Alabama House of Representatives on March 4, 2025 at the Alabama Statehouse in Montgomery, Alabama. DuBose's jury duty exemption bill passed the House unanimously Tuesday. (Anna Barrett/Alabama Reflector) The Alabama House of Representatives unanimously passed a bill Tuesday to exempt nursing mothers from jury duty. HB 209 , sponsored by Rep. Susan DuBose, R-Hoover, requires nursing mothers to provide documentation of childbirth and a written statement in order to be exempt from jury duty for two years.  “We named the bill ‘Parker’s Law’ after the precious 3-month-old baby that had to accompany her mother all the way down to the Jefferson County courthouse,” DuBose said on the House floor Tuesday.  GET THE MORNING HEADLINES. SUBSCRIBE In January, Kandace Brown brought her 3-month-old to jury duty in Jefferson County. According to a posting on Brown’s Facebook page, the judge would ...

A water tower read “Selma - A Nice Place To Live” in Selma, Alabama on Thursday, Dec. 21, 2023. A new report from the University of Alabama recommends enhancing existing programs to help address endemic poverty in the Black Belt. (Will McLelland for the Alabama Reflector) University of Alabama researchers say federal, state and local officials must intensify their investments in the state’s Black Belt region to leverage ongoing improvements in roads and broadband. The findings came in “Halfway Home and a Long Way to Go: Bridging Persistent Poverty Gap in Alabama’s Black Belt,” a brief published at the end of last month that is the first in a planned series. “We see addressing persistent poverty in the Black Belt as both a moral imperative, and an economic necessity for Alabama’s future,” said Stephen G. Katsinas, director of the Education Policy Center and professor with the College of Education at the University of Alabama, during a recent media briefing. GET THE MORNING HEADL...

Rep. Chris Sells, R-Greenville, sits in a House Child and Senior Advocacy Committee meeting on Feb. 26, 2025. The committee heard support and opposition on his bill, HB 317, that would require app store age verification. (Anna Barrett/Alabama Reflector) An Alabama bill requiring app stores to verify users’ ages drew debate during a committee hearing last week.  HB 317 , sponsored by Chris Sells, R-Greenville, would prohibit a minor from downloading a new app or updating an existing app without parental consent. In order for app stores to know whether someone is a minor, the platforms would have to implement age verification under the legislation. Supporters of the bill said Wednesday that parents support this regulation. Those who oppose the legislation said it would create a false sense of security, and the law would likely be challenged in court for violating users’ privacy. GET THE MORNING HEADLINES. SUBSCRIBE “Other age verification methods of the social media site...

A nurse administers a measles, mumps and rubella vaccine to a patient in Utah. More states are loosening vaccine mandates, scaling back vaccine promotion efforts and taking other steps that likely will lower vaccination rates. (George Frey/Getty Images) This story originally appeared on Stateline . More states are loosening vaccine mandates, scaling back vaccine promotion efforts and taking other steps likely to lower vaccination rates — even as a major measles outbreak spreads in Texas . Meanwhile, public health experts worry that the confirmation of vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services could add fuel to such efforts, leading to the resurgence of long-tamed infectious diseases. Kennedy has made numerous baseless or false claims about vaccines, including linking them to autism and cancer and saying there is “poison” in the coronavirus vaccine. Last week, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which Kennedy now ove...