Alabama House committee delays bill that would expand definition of rioting
The Montgomery Advertiser 3/9/2021 Brian Lyman, Montgomery Advertiser
It was a lengthy discussion, heavy with the crimes of the past and the struggles of the present. And after about 90 minutes of debate, a legislative committee decided to keep it going.
The House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday delayed a vote on legislation from Rep. Allen Treadaway, R-Morris, that would expand the definition of rioting and punish cities that cut police budgets. Opponents said the definition of rioting in the legislation does not require an act to take place, and could make law enforcement the arbiters of what is and isn’t constitutionally-protected speech.
Committee slows controversial bill increasing penalties for rioters
House committee slows controversial riot penalty bill By Lydia Nusbaum | March 9, 2021 at 12:41 PM CST - Updated March 9 at 7:04 PM
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WSFA) - The Alabama House Judiciary Committee has slowed down a controversial bill that would create new crimes and penalties for rioters.
The bill was moved to a subcommittee to work out concerns Democratic lawmakers expressed at the meeting Tuesday.
State Rep. Allen Treadaway, R-Morris, said he drafted the legislation after a riot in Birmingham last summer when people came from other cities to cause destruction.
âYouâve got other evidence of folks with sledgehammers breaking in businesses, looting them and setting them on fire,â Treadaway said. âThis is what this is about.â
It s the longest streak for either major party in Oregon history.
Republicans dominated statewide offices when Atiyeh was governor 40 years ago. They were led by Oregon s U.S. senators of that era â Mark Hatfield and Bob Packwood, each with five victories â but also the secretary of state, state treasurer and attorney general, even though Democrats controlled the Legislature.
Republicans have become a threatened species at the statewide level. Just two Republicans have been elected to statewide office in the past two decades.
Their ranks are shrinking further.
Knute Buehler once carried the GOP banner in Oregon, now he s left the party
The Alabama Memorial Preservation Act, passed in 2017, prohibits removal of a historical monument from taxpayer-owned property that has been in place 40 years or more.
Alabama House committee rejects changes to monument preservation law
A House committee Wednesday afternoon rejected a bill that would have given local cities a way to legally remove monuments 50 years old or older.
The House Judiciary Committee voted 6 to 4 to reject the legislation sponsored by Rep. Juandalynn Givan, D-Birmingham, following a year of reckoning with Confederate monuments, most of which were built in the the late 19th and early 20th centuries to celebrate white supremacy.
Givan criticized the committee after the vote and accused them of racism, naming Reps. Wes Allen, R-Troy; Dickie Drake, R-Leeds; Allen Farley, R-McCalla, and Mike Holmes, R-Wetumpka, who voted against the legislation.