Alabama top stories in brief

• A lawsuit recently filed by Campaign Legal Center, a nonpartisan organization that advocates for increased access to voting, is challenging the implementation of a newly passed law that could potentially impact who is allowed to vote in the upcoming general election. The law, which was passed as HB100, is scheduled to become effective October 1, and will increase the number of felonies that remove the right to vote. The lawsuit filed by CLC argues that the new law is unconstitutional, since in 2022, an amendment to the Alabama Constitution was passed that says laws affecting elections cannot change within 6 months of an election. While the actual text of the bill lists October 1 as the effective date, Wes Allen, Alabama’s Secretary of State, has said that the bill will not come into effect until Nov. 6, after the election has occurred. 

• Nick Saban, after retiring January this year as one of the most successful coaches in college football history, will now be a recurring part of ESPN’s SEC Media Days. ESPN hired him as part of the College GameDay show to ask the questions instead of being on the receiving end. He stated that, “I want to be objective. But I don’t want to be controversial,” as he explained his role on the show. Saban had his official debut on the show July 15 as part of the four day event.  

• Alabama’s State Health Officer, Dr. Scott Harris, expressed concern over the rising number of hospitals converting to Rural Emergency Hospitals. Rural Emergency Hospitals were created as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 to help ensure health care services in rural areas, and provide hospitals with higher reimbursement rates and increased financial assistance. Harris’s concerns stem from the restrictions that come with the REH designation. Hospitals that convert to REH will be more restricted on the type of inpatient services that they can render. 

• The Alabama Department of Corrections executed Keith Edmund Gavin by way of lethal injection on July 18, making this the third execution the state has performed this year. Gavin, who was convicted and executed for the murder of William Clayton Jr. in 1998, claimed that an insufficient amount of circumstantial evidence presented to the jury coupled with a lack of counsel and improper discussion of the case prior to sentencing solidified his sentence of execution. According to Gavin, his attorney did not use enough evidence that would have persuaded the court, such as his history of abuse as a child, which may have contributed to his actions. The appeals to reconsider sentencing were denied. ADOC will perform its next execution on Alan Eugene Miller in September.

• The state of Alabama currently operates five crisis centers, which serve individuals experiencing problems with substance abuse and mental health crises by providing referrals to community services, evaluations and psychiatric stabilization. A sixth center is projected to open in Dothan, Al. within the next couple of months. However, Kim Boswell, Alabama Department of Mental Health Commissioner, said that in order to serve the entire state, 11 centers are required. Each center requires, on average, $7 million — a total of $35 million to complete the construction of other centers. Alabama lawmakers met on July 17 to discuss a plan to streamline funding for crisis centers, ultimately settling that before additional crisis centers are constructed, more detailed talks are required to fully consider ADMH’s budget as a whole. ADMH largely recovered in 2022 from a significant loss of funding in 2010 due to the 2008 recession, but gaps in funding are still apparent. Prematurely using funds to expand the amount of crisis centers will take funding away from Alabama’s mental health infrastructure as a whole, and ADMH plans to re-investigate budgetary factors with a goal of eventually opening more crisis centers.

Announcements

• Throughout the remainder of the summer and the beginning of the fall, our editor in chief, Harrison Neville will be writing a series of articles recommending books that readers might enjoy. While a few of the articles might focus on a specific book, the majority will cover a group of books all connected through a central theme, such as Harrison’s top 10 science fiction recommendations or his favorite books about superheroes. The first article will be coming out this week. 

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