Editorial Roundup: Alabama

Wed, Feb 10, 2021
By The Associated Press

Recent editorials from Alabama newspapers:

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Feb. 8

The Dothan Eagle on U.S. Sen. Richard C. Shelby, who recently announced he would not seek a seventh term in office:

Fifty years ago last month, Richard Shelby was sworn into his first elected office, representing the people of Alabama's 16th District in the state Senate in Montgomery. He has worked for the people ever since.

Shelby, then a Democrat, served in the state legislature until he ran for the U.S. House of Representatives, and after eight years he defeated Republican incumbent Jeremiah Denton in the 1986 U.S. Senate race.

From there he became a legend, becoming one of the most respected and powerful Senators on Capitol Hill.

Alabama has been fortunate to have a leader of Shelby's caliber representing its interests in Washington. His strategic positions on powerful Senate committees reaped great benefits for Alabama with regard to federal funding for military and infrastructure projects.

Alabama residents may well not appreciate one facet of Shelby's tenure enough. He has served us with grace and decorum, an attribute most notable during the last administration. Shelby never called attention to his opinion of President Donald Trump, keeping any admiration or derision to himself.

This week, Shelby, now 84, announced he would not seek a seventh term in the U.S. Senate. His absence in Washington will be deeply felt back home. His successor won't have the power that comes with seniority, and will likely lack the political acumen that comes with years of public service.

There are good arguments in support of term limits. If every elected official were a statesman like Shelby, there wouldn't even be a discussion.

Online: https://dothaneagle.com/

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Feb. 7

The Decatur Daily on a state lottery:

Alabama lawmakers are poised once again to take up the issue of gambling.

Many Alabamians, possibly a majority, would like to see Alabama institute a state lottery. Voters rejected a state lottery once before, but that was in 1999, and much has happened in the intervening 21 years. Most importantly, Alabama is now surrounded on all sides by states that do have lotteries. Mississippi, the last neighboring holdout, approved its lottery in 2018.

Some Alabamians cross state lines to play the lottery every week. When the jackpot is high enough, the parking lots at convenience stores just over the line in Tennessee, Florida and Georgia are filled with Alabama license plates.

It's no longer a question of whether Alabamians are going to play the lottery. They are, and it has never been easier for them to do so. The only question is, will the money Alabamians spend on lottery tickets stay here, or will it go to fund government programs in neighboring states?

Unfortunately, since 1999, it's never come down to a question of a straight up-or-down vote on a state lottery. The lottery always gets sucked into the larger issue of gambling, casinos and the state's ongoing impasse with the Poarch Band of Creek Indians.

State Sen. Del Marsh, R-Anniston, plans to introduce a bill in the current legislative session that would again put a state lottery before the voters, with the revenue going toward college scholarships. In that respect, it would be similar to the proposal voters rejected in 1999. It would steer other gambling revenue toward expanding broadband internet in the state.

A proposal Marsh introduced in 2015 would have allowed casino gambling at the state's four greyhound dog tracks.

Casino gambling has been the stumbling block preventing a state lottery from going before voters in the past, and it could do so again.

Proponents of casino gambling see hitching a ride on a state lottery bill as the most likely, and probably the only way of getting casino gambling legalized in the state. Meanwhile, some lottery supporters oppose casino gambling, and supporters of casino gambling are themselves divided into factions, each of which would like to have a monopoly on casinos.

Thus, there is much talk each session of letting voters vote on a "clean" lottery bill that never turns out to be as clean as advertised.

Gov. Kay Ivey has stressed the need for transparency in the gambling debate. This would be a welcome change, given the lack of transparency involved in Ivey's plan to lease three new private mega-prisons. But she is right that transparency is essential.

If voters are given a proposed constitutional amendment that seems convoluted or looks like it is giving some special interest a monopoly on casino gambling, they may well reject it again.

Ivey has said she will monitor the debate. She will not be alone in that.

Online: https://www.decaturdaily.com/

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Feb. 6

The Dothan Eagle on a proposed wiretapping bill and the state's criminal justice system:

It's ironic that Alabama lawmakers are considering a measure that would allow state and local law enforcement officials to surreptitiously listen in on phone conversations and electronic communications of people they may suspect are involved in drug crimes. At the same time, they're working toward resolution of a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Department of Justice over conditions in Alabama prisons, which have been seriously overcrowded for years.

Just before the regular legislative session began last week, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey signed a lease agreement in an initiative to create three new prisons at a cost exceeding $1 billion. However, without meaningful change on the other end of the judicial pipeline, Alabama's prison overcrowded problem will only be temporarily fixed, if at all. Alabama's criminal justice system need alternatives to incarceration and revamped sentencing guidelines, particularly with regard to substances like marijuana, which is being legalized to varying degrees in several states.

The wiretapping proposal as written has a dangerous potential for abuse. The requirement is a low standard of "probable cause," which opponents argue is too broad.

Perhaps more troubling is that proponents tout the measure for its potential revenue generation through increased fines and civil asset forfeiture, which allows police to seize assets and property without conviction if it is believed to be tied to criminal activity.

Lawmakers must weigh potential law enforcement tools against the public's privacy concerns, and send this measure back to the drawing board.

Online: https://dothaneagle.com/