Alabama Attorney General’s 1976 Letter Told KKK Off In 3 Short Words
In 1970, shortly after being elected Attorney General of Alabama, Bill Baxley reopened the 16th Street Church bombing case – a racially motivated act of terrorism that resulted in the deaths of four African-American girls at Birmingham’s 16th Street Baptist Church in 1963. Baxley’s commitment to the case attracted much hostility, particularly from local Klansmen, and in 1976 he received a threatening letter of protest from white supremacist Edward R. Fields -founder of the “National States’ Rights Party” and “Grand Dragon” of the New Order Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. Fields accused Baxley of reopening the case for tactical reasons.
In an interview recently recorded at WBHM, Baxley spoke to NPR’s Audie Cornish about the letter he received and his response. Listen to the interview.
Baxley continues to practice law in Birmingham.
A proposed Bessemer data center faces new hurdles: a ‘road to nowhere’ and the Birmingham darter
With the City Council in Bessemer scheduled to vote Tuesday on a “hyperscale” data center, challenges from an environmental group and the Alabama Department of Transportation present potential obstacles for the wildly unpopular project.
Birmingham Museum of Art’s silver exhibit tells a dazzling global story
Silver and Ceremony is made up of more than 150 suites of silver, sourced from India, and some of their designs.
Mentally ill people are stuck in jail because they can’t get treatment. Here’s what’s to know
Hundreds of people across Alabama await a spot in the state’s increasingly limited facilities, despite a consent decree requiring the state to address delays in providing care for people who are charged with crimes but deemed too mentally ill to stand trial. But seven years since the federal agreement, the problem has only worsened.
Ivey appoints Will Parker to Alabama Supreme Court
Parker fills the court seat vacated by Bill Lewis who was tapped by President Donald Trump for a federal judgeship. The U.S. Senate last month confirmed Lewis as a U.S. district judge.
How Alabama Power kept bills up and opposition out to become one of the most powerful utilities in the country
In one of the poorest states in America, the local utility earns massive profits producing dirty energy with almost no pushback from state regulators.
No more Elmo? APT could cut ties with PBS
The board that oversees Alabama Public Television is considering disaffiliating from PBS, ending a 55-year relationship.
