Sessions Calls On Birmingham To Reinstate Agreements With Church Of The Highlands
Former Attorney General and Republican U.S. Senate candidate Jeff Sessions on Wednesday urged the Birmingham Board of Education and the Birmingham Housing Authority to reverse their decisions to sever ties with the Church of the Highlands after its head pastor liked social media posts from the leader of a conservative organization.
The church had rented space for worship services at Birmingham’s Woodlawn and Parker high schools. The housing authority had partnered with the church to offer mentoring and social services in nine public housing communities. The boards ended the agreements earlier this month in a move that Sessions called “unconstitutional discrimination.”
“The First Amendment means that the government has no power to restrict expression because of its message, its ideas, its subject matter or its content,” Session said at a press conference held across the street from Woodlawn High School. “Those individual viewpoints cannot be required to be suppressed, silenced before somebody can rent a building with the school board.”
Church of the Highlands Pastor Chris Hodges apologized for liking social media posts by Charlie Kirk, the president of the conservative group Turning Point USA. Hodges said in a sermon those posts, which some considered racist, “is not what I believe.”
Sessions said he sent letters to the school board and Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin asking for the decisions to be reversed. Representatives of the school system and the mayor’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from WBHM.
Senate confirms Trump lawyer Emil Bove for appeals court
The Senate confirmed former Trump lawyer Emil Bove as a federal appeals court judge as Republicans dismissed whistleblower complaints about his conduct at the Justice Department.
UCLA reaches $6 million settlement with Jewish students over campus protests
The settlement comes after Jewish students and a professor argued their civil rights were violated when pro-Palestinian protesters blocked access to campus buildings during 2024 demonstrations.
8.8-magnitude earthquake sets off tsunami warnings in Japan, Alaska and Hawaii
One of the world's strongest earthquakes struck Russia's Far East Wednesday, causing a tsunami in the northern Pacific region and setting off warnings for Alaska, Hawaii and south toward New Zealand.
Senators introduce resolution supporting prevention task force RFK Jr. may disband
The task force makes recommendations for medical screenings that doctors' groups rely on and that guide what preventive services most insurance covers without copay.
The Manhattan gunman believed he had CTE. What does that mean?
The gunman accused of killing four people in New York City suspected he had chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE — a degenerative brain disease often associated with football players.
In a first, the Senate confirms a new CDC director
Susan Monarez is the first director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to require Senate confirmation. She's also the first director without a medical degree in more than 70 years.