Rolling the Dice

The recent media reports about the sweepstakes challenge in Jefferson County reminds me that gambling is the one vice that our society has decided should be open to children but not adults -- unless the adult wants to play the children's games.

It's somewhat strange to me that a majority in our state wring their hands over gambling but then turn around and allow their children to gamble under the "Chuck E. Cheese" Law -- presumably because it's just harmless fun.

Riley Bucks!

The Mobile Register reported this week that a political action committee funded by backers of a Huntsville project that was awarded a $50 million state incentives package has donated $300,000 to Gov. Bob Riley's re-election campaign. The report is based on campaign finance reports filed with the state.

The $300,000 donation to Riley came less than 6 months after Riley awarded the $50,000,000 to the biotech project.

They report. You decide.

Bush and Hamas

It's good to see that Bush and Company are accepting the results of the Palestinian Authority election, even if grudgingly. We Americans can't say we are for democracy if we are going to criticize the will of the people voting and try to undermine their elections.

Of course, it didn't take long for Bush to address the Hamas leadership like other errant, elected governments and try to tell them how to run their government.

Worley Watch: Illegal Immigrant Edition (redux)

I originally reported here on the Worley controversy over voter registration, illegal immigrants, and citizenship. In summary, it was alleged that Nancy Worley, the Secretary of State and chief state election official, instructed voter registrars that they could not follow-up on a person's citizenship status, even on a person who had marked they were not a citizen on the application.

Since Mo Brooks, a candidate for Lieutenant Governor, was cited as the source of the information that was presented to the Madison County Commission, I contacted him about this issue. He replied:

"The information [about Worley's instructions] is from the Madison County Board of Registrars. A transcript of their statements to the Madison County Commission on December 19, 2005 is attached.

"All the Mo Brooks Campaign for Lt. Governor did was send a very brief cover letter to a lot of people with the transcript attached. I sent it as part of an effort to further highlight the illegal alien problems we must confront, and confront soon.

"What Ala. Secretary of State Nancy Worley appears to have done (according to various Boards of Registrars members in three different counties) is wrong and must be corrected (either by an admission by Worley that she uttered the instructions and is rescinding them or a statement by Worley that she never intended to convey what the voter registrars say they heard)."

The transcript of statements made to the Madison County Commission are available here: Pages 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, and 14.

The Huntsville Times reported on this story 12 January 2006. In that story, Worley denied giving those instructions to voter registrars. The story states:

Worley and a secretary of state's office attorney, Adam Bourne, said federal law gives voter applicants a presumption that their voter registration forms are truthful. Registrars cannot arbitrarily ask applicants their citizenship status unless there is a compelling and specific reason to do so, Worley said.

Not surprisingly, Worley falls back on making excuses. Rather than consider that her instructions may have been unclear or, in fact, wrong, Worley stated:

"When I started getting calls about what he attributed to me that I knew were untrue, I checked out the source and figured it to be political grandstanding.

"It's an attention-getter because he's running for lieutenant governor."

It seems, however, that if the instructions she claims to have given were the actual instructions that Worley gave to the registrars, the registrars would not have felt that checking citizenship was off limits regardless of circumstances.

If Worley's comments were taken out of context or simply misunderstood, hopefully she has issued a clarification to ensure that the voter registrars understand what their legal obligations and options under these circumstances.

Somehow, though, Worley's track record does not inspire confidence. Remember, she has told voter registrars to ignore the state constitution regarding the voting rights of convicted felons - and is being sued over that issue - despite clear guidance from the Attorney General on what the constitution requires.

Sans Snitching

I imagine that many whites and conservatives - and especially conservative whites - who do not normally agree with Cynthia Tucker will like her column that ran in the 15 January 2006 edition of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. In the column, she talks about black "thug" culture being a bigger threat to black communities than racism and she decries the "no snitching" attitude that runs throughout that culture.

Of course, I agree that "thug" culture is a bad thing for the black community. Just like I think the rough and tumble, violent redneck culture of "dew drop inns" is a bad thing for the white community.

I'm wondering though how many whites who read Tucker's column today will praise her for arguing against the "no snitch" aspect of "thug" culture, while at the same time saying the federal whistleblower shouldn't have outed the Bush Administration's secret surveillance of American citizens - or defending the Riley Administration's withholding of the security tapes showing Curt Lee in the state capitol before work hours.

Worley Watch: Contracting

Newspapers didn't give it a lot of attention, but Nancy Worley has done it again. According to an Associated Press article, Worley didn't follow procedure when she contracted with attorneys to defend her against a personnel complaint. Worley did not present the contract to the Legislature's Contract Review Committee as required.

The article includes the following take on the situation by Representative Alvin Holmes, a staunch Democrat on the Contract Review Committee:

Rep. Alvin Holmes, D-Montgomery, said he doesn't think Bolton can get paid for the work he has done for the secretary of state.

"The law clearly states that you have to go through contract review to get a contract approved and she didn't do it," Holmes said.

And, for bipartisanship, Senator Larry Dixon is reported to have said:

"I feel the secretary of state completely mishandled this situation. Since it involves a disgruntled former employee, I would think she would be careful to make sure she touched every legal base."

While I am obviously no defender of Nancy Worley, I do hope that the attorney she hired is paid for whatever services he legitimately rendered to the Secretary of State's office. Hopefully, though, that attorney, and other people witnessing Worley's magic once again, will keep her track record in mind during this year's elections.

Bible Literacy

poliscizac over at AlabamaElections has a good post about the Bible literacy bill that was introduced in the Legislature this session.

Comments posted by readers of Zac's entry show the problem with the whole issue of religion in schools. (Let's set aside the fact that schools can already teach Bible lit classes. My high school had such a class when I was there.)

If people can't agree on the means of teaching a class on the Bible as literature, then how do they expect to find any meaningful agreement on prayer in school or teaching "intelligent design."

Even those of us who are Christians have honest differences of opinion on what it means to be Christian and what the Bible tells us.

If we can't agree on the Christian message we want to present to one another, why should we want to expose such a message to non-believers?

Judicial Activism? - One More Alito Thought

CNN reported this:

Alito said following precedent is "very important," and "special justification" would be needed to overturn previous decisions.

Then, in the same article, CNN reported this:

Feinstein pressed for examples of what would qualify as a "special justification."

Alito responded by citing scenarios in which a rule "is proven to be unworkable" or when "changes in the situation in the real world can call for the overruling of a precedent."

"Situations" in the "real world" can call for striking down a precedent?

It would seem this statement by Alito should make conservatives squirm. Hasn't the complaint lodged against "liberal" justices been that they are too eager to make rulings to address "real world" "situations"? Haven't conservatives complained that "liberal" justices impose their own views of society on others rather than looking to the Constitution and the framers' intentions to discover how the document should apply today?

Of course, conservatives aren't squirming, since they take this as code meaning that Alito will affirm his pro-life credentials by voting to overturn Roe v. Wade.

Some Thoughts on Alito

Based on reports from As CNN, MSNBC, and NPR, the Alito confirmation hearings weren't much to observe. Once again, we Americans were served up another dose of lofty language talking about the role of judges to be impartial in ruling on cases one-by-one based on the merits and the facts. Which is all fine. At least a nominee like Alito knows to say the right things. But I agree with Senator Joseph Biden (D-DE) who has described hearings likes these as "kabuki dances."

I agree that prospective justices and judges shouldn't say how they would rule on a particular set of facts before the case even comes to them. However, I'm not so sure that I'm sold on the idea that judges can't speak freely about past decisions of the court or be more expressive about their judicial philosophy.

But even if we accept that they won't answer questions about hot issues, it would at least be nice for the Senate Judiciary Committee to probe the nominees to discover whether the nominee has the intelligence to be a justice or judge. If courts are the venue for seeking the truth, and the Supreme Court is the venue for determining what is acceptable under our federal Constitution, then I would feel much better knowing that the justice is smart and a good analyst. And I would hope that those skills would lead the justice to honest views on the Constitution.

Of course, I do not dismiss that personal values and political philosophy play a role as well. We all see things from a particular vantage point. It just seems better to me to have a smart ideologue on the court rather than a stupid one. I can respect a judicial decision I do not agree with if it at least has some logic and coherence.

Worley Watch: Felony Follies

The Associated Press reported yesterday that Nancy Worley is critical of Attorney General Troy King for not responding to her request for a comprehensive list of felonies convictions that make someone lose their voting rights. According to the AP, King was working on the list but has put the work on hold because Worley has been sued over the issue of felony convictions and voting right. King says not that the matter is in litigation, he cannot issue an opinion and that Worley will have to wait and see what the court rules.

 

King is correct. There is no way to tell how the litigation will go. And since he represents the State of Alabama in these lawsuits, he cannot very well issue opinions outside of court that may affect or be affected by the litigation.

 

Worley needs to remember that it was her decision to ignore the plain language of the Alabama Constitution that got her sued and in this mess. King issued an opinion in early 2005 saying that not all felony convictions make a person to lose his voting rights. He even provided a brief listing of some of the convictions that do and do not cause disenfranchisement. Worley ignored the opinion and told the county voter registrars to continue business as usual rather than training them on what the law requires. So now Worley is in court, having been sued because she would not honor what the Constitution requires.

 

Worley is correct that the voter registrars need clarification of what felonies cause disenfranchisement. Registrars are not lawyers and need legal guidance. However, Worley handled the problem all wrong. Instead of telling registrars to conduct business as usual, she should have told them to follow King's 2005 opinion. If a type of felony was not covered in that opinion, then her attorney could provide guidance until King issued the comprehensive list.

 

But Worley is par for her course. She has - again - resorted to blaming someone else for her own mistakes and errors in judgement.

 

 

Cartoon of the Moment

Worley Watch: Illegal Immigrant Edition

Brad at the blog SuppressedNews.com has posted allegations against Nancy Worley. According to Brad's entry,

Worley is traveling the state in order to instruct local voter registrars to register illegal aliens to vote. What could be her motivation if not to register likely Democrat voters?

Brad bases his allegation on what is purported to be a statement from Mo Brooks, a candidate for Lt. Governor. In the statement, Brooks presents information from the Madison County Board of Registrars to the Madison County Commission about Worley's instructions on registering illegal, as well as legal, aliens.

We have not yet been able to corroborate this story with any press accounts or other sources. Anyone with information on this story is invited to e-mail Watchman with the details. All sources will be kept confidential unless attribution is desired by the source.

Worley Watch: New Year Edition

As reported by the Montgomery Advertiser on 31 December 2005, Secretary of State Nancy Worley is now officially out of compliance with a federal mandate that required her office to implement a new statewide voter registration system by 1 January 2006.

Worley's problems in meeting this mandate are legion. They are documented here, here, here, here, and here. For a rough time line of this abysmal failure, go here. As the linked entries show, Worley has as many excuses as she does fingers for why she hasn't been able to meet the federal deadline.

Two of the more interesting sections of the Advertiser article:

Implementing the system stalled because of confusion over licensing agreements and intellectual property rights, officials said. Worley was confident Friday all the details can be ironed out and the system will be up by June.

And then:

"We have an antiquated system because it was not updated technologically on an annual basis."

These passages seem to strongly imply that the state will be purchasing a new voter registration system from an outside vendor.

However, Worley told the U.S. Department of Justice on 9 September 2005 that the current voter registration system (the same one that she tells the Advertiser is antiquated) is substantially compliant with the federal mandate. And although she told the Advertiser the new system would be ready in June 2006, she told the Department of Justice that her staff would have the final updates to the system made so that it would be ready to roll in March 2006. Page 3 of Worley's letter to explains this (page 1, 2, 3; thanks to MCNewbie for the DOJ letter).

Quote of the Moment

Secrecy is the beginning of tyranny.-- Robert A. Heinlein

Magic City Migrants

On 30 December 2005, The Birmingham News reported on the concerns expressed by Jefferson County commissioners Larry Langford and Sheila Smoot over Sheriff Mike Hale's plans to record and log information on illegal immigrants in their county. Hale's plan, as it has been reported by The News, would have each of his deputies record information about illegal immigrants they meet in the course of their job and then enter that information into a database that could be shared with other law enforcement officials.

Langord and Smoot are concerned that the program will lead to racial profiling. It is also reported that Smoot has said the county needs to look at the long-term consequences of keeping tabs in illegal immigrants. Two other commissioners have also weighed in on the issue. Gary White says he supports Hale's program as long as it is used to track only those immigrants with criminal records. According to The News article, Bettye Fine Collins is supportive of Hale's efforts to identify illegal immigrants.

Illegal immigration is becoming a growing concern in Alabama, at least as indicated by press coverage. Whether that concern is based on the "rule of law" and who has the right to be in America or racism - or some undefined mixture of the two - is anyone's guess.

It seems appropriate and necessary that Jefferson County deputies report what they know about illegal immigrants in their county. And in fact it seems that the Jefferson County Sheriff, and therefore his deputies, are required by law to report what they know regarding illegal immigrants. In the oath of office they take, the specifically say they will uphold the Constitution of the United States and the State of Alabama.

While that oath does not make them enforcers of immigration law, it would seem to place an affirmative reponsibility on them to notify the proper authorities of evidence that someone is violating immigration law.

I do not support racial profiling - the stopping and questioning of a person by law enforcement for the sole reason that the person is in a targeted racial or ethnic group. However, if a person is stopped for a legitimate reason by the JeffCo sheriffs deputies, and the person is not in the country legally, I see no reason the JeffCo deputies should not report this information.

If racial profiling in this program does prove to be a problem, then the deputies should be dealt with appropriately, just as we should deal with illegal immigrants. The fear of one wrong should not lead us to overlook another.

Come one! Come all!

Alabama Citizens for Constitutional Reform (ACCR) has sent out this invitation. I'm passing it along to you:

On January 4th Come to Montgomery !

Press Conference for bill Calling for Constitutional Convention

Rep. Demetrius Newton and Senator Ted Little will hold a press conference announcing the bill calling for a Constitutional Convention to rewrite the 1901 Constitution on Wednesday Jan 4, 2006, 10 AM in the House of Representative Chambers, 5th Floor of State House , Montgomery Alabama.

The bill and summary will be passed out at the press Conference

All are urged to attend to show support in this first public announcement of the bill. Please pass this notice to your email list and urge all to attend.