I would say that Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) is the worst member of Congress and that would make AL the worst state in the Union, but Arizona keeps sending Paul Gosar to D.C.
Tuberville may be epically dumb, but Gosar is epically bigoted.
From the Atmore (AL) Advance -
County BOE board member, Atmore newspaper reporter arrested by ECSO
UPDATE: The following story was updated today to include additional information on the arrests of Escambia County Board of Education District 6 Board Member Sherry Digmon and Atmore News Reporter Don Fletcher. The update also includes clarification on their charges, and comments from District Attorney Stephen Billy.
An Escambia County Board of Education board member and an Atmore newspaper reporter were arrested Oct. 27 for publishing grand jury evidence, according to officials.
District 6 Board Member Sherry Digmon, 72, and Don Fletcher, 69, both of Atmore, were booked into the county detention center in Brewton at 5:33 and 6:04 p.m. Friday, respectively, according to the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office jail report.
[snip]
Billy suggested Alabama State Code Section 12-16-214, which details about grand jury and the desirability of secrecy.
The code by which both were arrested (12-16-215) states: Grand juror, witness, etc., prohibited from revealing, disclosing, etc., a juror’s questions, considerations, etc.; no person to directly, indirectly, etc., by any means obtain information as to juror’s questions, considerations, etc. No past or present grand juror, past or present grand jury witness or grand jury reporter or stenographer shall willfully at any time directly or indirectly, conditionally or unconditionally, by any means whatever, reveal, disclose or divulge or attempt or endeavor to reveal, disclose or divulge or cause to be revealed, disclosed or divulged, any knowledge or information pertaining to any grand juror’s questions, considerations, debates, deliberations, opinions or votes on any case, evidence, or other matter taken within or occurring before any grand jury of this state. Nor shall any person at any time, directly or indirectly, conditionally or unconditionally by any means whatever, corruptly or with intent to influence a grand juror or other person authorized by law to attend a grand jury, or by threat of harm to person or property, or by force applied to person or property, or by threatening letter or communication, or by offer of reward, remuneration, gift, benefit or thing of value of whatever nature or kind, obtain or endeavor to obtain, any information pertaining to, or any knowledge of any grand juror’s questions, considerations, debates, deliberations, opinions or votes on any case, evidence or other matter taken or transpiring within or before any grand jury of this state.
I'm not an attorney, so take the following with a grain of salt.
The way that I read the statute as cited, it doesn't actually apply to journalists publishing a story.
Of course, the DA there may just be petty enough to not let truth get in the way.
From AL.com -
Lawyer: Alabama DA who charged newspaper publisher, reporter targets ‘people he has a problem with’
The attorney representing a newspaper publisher and reporter arrested and indicted on charges they disclosed grand jury secrets says his clients are the victims of a prosecutor who is “after people he has a problem with.”
Ernie White, a Brewton attorney, told AL.com on Thursday that Atmore News publisher Sherry Digmon and reporter Don Fletcher – both who face felony charges of revealing grand jury evidence – are facing criminal charges over a dispute related to the non-renewal of Escambia County Superintendent Michele McClung’s contract.
Sounds very Arpaio-esque.
Still, as craven as that is, it's not quite as bad as the fact that Alabama now has internal approval to kill people by suffocation.
From AP (emphasis added by me)-
Alabama can execute inmate with nitrogen gas, state’s highest court says
A divided Alabama Supreme Court said the state can execute an inmate with nitrogen gas, a method that has not previously been used carry out a death sentence.
The all-Republican court made its 6-2 decision without comment on Wednesday. The justices granted the state attorney general’s request for an execution warrant for Kenneth Eugene Smith, one of two men convicted in the 1988 murder-for-hire slaying of Elizabeth Sennett in northwestern Alabama.
[snip]
The decision moves Alabama closer to becoming the first state to attempt an execution by nitrogen gas, although there will likely be additional legal wrangling over the proposed method before it’s used. Oklahoma and Mississippi have also authorized nitrogen hypoxia for executions, in which an inmate would breathe only nitrogen and be deprived of oxygen needed live. While proponents have theorized it would be painless, opponents liken it to human experimentation.
How long before the AZ Legislature tries to go lower than that by reintroducing stoning as a method of execution?
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