Alabama executes a man who said he was guilty of rape and murder and deserved to die
James Osgood was pronounced dead Thursday evening following a three-drug injection at a south Alabama prison. A jury in 2014 convicted Osgood of capital murder in the death of Tracy Lynn Brown in Chilton County.
Alabama lawmakers advance bill to let Alfa sell health plans outside insurance regulations
The Alabama House of Representatives approved the bill on a 98-1 vote after nearly three hours of debate. The bill now moves to the Alabama Senate.
Shark attack survivor presses Alabama for an alert system to keep people safe in the water
Lulu Gribbin was one of three people bitten by a shark during a string of attacks off the Florida Panhandle. On Wednesday, she asked Alabama lawmakers to support a proposed shark attack alert system.
Most of the families applying for Alabama’s new school vouchers have kids in non-public schools
Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey’s office released application figures Tuesday for the CHOOSE Act, the new program which will help eligible families tap state dollars to help pay for private school or home-schooling costs.
Alabama can’t prosecute groups who help women travel to get an abortion, federal judge says
U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson sided with an abortion fund and medical providers who sued Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall after he suggested they could face prosecution under anti-conspiracy laws.
Alabama lawmakers approve a ban on devices that convert semi-automatic weapons into machine guns
A bipartisan coalition pushed the Alabama legislation after several multiple mass shootings last year, including the shooting deaths of four people outside a Birmingham nightclub in September. The devices are already banned under federal law, but there’s currently no state law that bans them.
Alabama governor commutes death row inmate Rocky Myers’ sentence to life in prison
Myers will spend the rest of his life in prison without the possibility of parole instead of being executed later this year. Ivey noted that was the sentence jurors recommended at his 1994 trial.
Advocates push for Medicaid expansion in holdout Alabama
Advocates gathered at the Alabama Statehouse Tuesday urging lawmakers to reconsider their long-held reluctance to expand Medicaid, saying the decision is hurting both working families and health care providers. But the push comes at a time there is gathering uncertainty about possible cuts and changes in Washington to Medicaid.
Alabama governor vows to sign bill that writes definitions of male and female into state law
The state House of Representatives voted 77-12 for the bill that defines sex based on reproductive organs that are present at birth. The bill now goes to Gov. Kay Ivey who has vowed to sign it.
Alabama puts man to death for a 1991 murder in the nation’s fourth execution using nitrogen gas
Demetrius Frazier was pronounced dead at a south Alabama prison Thursday evening for his murder conviction in the 1991 rape and killing of Pauline Brown. It was the first execution in Alabama this year.
Ivey calls public safety her top priority for the 2025 session
The proposals come in the wake of mass shootings that rattled Alabama cities, including the shooting deaths of four people outside a Birmingham nightclub in September.
In wake of mass shootings, Alabama lawmakers eye ban on Glock switches and public safety bills
After a violent year marked by multiple mass shootings in Alabama, Republican Gov. Kay Ivey and many lawmakers from both parties are backing a proposed ban on so-called Glock switches and other conversion devices that make semi-automatic weapons fire like machine guns.
Alabama carries out nation’s third nitrogen gas execution on a man for a hitchhiker’s killing
Carey Dale Grayson was executed at the William C. Holman Correctional Facility in southern Alabama. He was one of four teenagers convicted of killing Vickie DeBlieux as she hitchhiked through the state on the way to her mother’s home in Louisiana.
Federal appeals court won’t block upcoming nitrogen gas execution in Alabama
The 11th U.S. Court of Appeals swiftly affirmed a lower court's decision to let Carey Dale Grayson's execution proceed. Grayson had sought a preliminary injunction to block the execution. The three-judge panel wrote that evidence “did not show that nitrogen hypoxia creates a substantial risk of conscious suffocation."
Figures wins Alabama’s redrawn 2nd Congressional District
Figures, a Democrat, defeated Republican Caroleene Dobson to win the open seat, flipping the district that had been a GOP stronghold until it was redrawn last year.
Figures and Dobson are in a heated battle for a redrawn Alabama House district
Democrat Shomari Figures, a former top aide to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, faces Republican Caroleene Dobson, an attorney and political newcomer, in the race for Alabama’s 2nd Congressional District.
Alabama lawmakers question parole board chair on low releases, lack of responsiveness
Leigh Gwathney, the chairwoman of the three-person Board of Pardons and Paroles, appeared before the Legislative Prison Committee in a sometimes tense meeting to take lawmakers’ questions about the parole process. The meeting was marked by a series of terse exchanges as lawmakers accused Gwathney of not answering their questions.
Alabama executes man who killed 5 and asked to be put to death
Derrick Dearman was pronounced dead at Thursday at Holman prison in southern Alabama. He pleaded guilty to the killings that prosecutors said began when he broke into the home where his estranged girlfriend had taken refuge.
Judge refuses to dismiss Alabama lawsuit over solar panel fees
U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson ruled Monday that a group of homeowners and the Greater-Birmingham Alliance to Stop Pollution can pursue a lawsuit challenging the fees as a violation of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act, a 1978 law that promotes renewable energy production.
Justice Department sues Alabama saying state is purging voter rolls too close to election
Federal officials said the purge violates the “quiet period provision” of the National Voter Registration Act that prohibits the systemic removal of names from voter rolls 90 days before a federal election.
Alabama puts man convicted of killing 3 to death in the country’s second nitrogen gas execution
Alan Eugene Miller was pronounced dead at a south Alabama prison. He shook and trembled on the gurney for about two minutes with his body at times pulling against the restraints.
Birmingham leaders plead for information on mass shooting and announce reward money
Authorities have still made no arrests after Saturday’s shooting killed four people and left 17 others injured. Police described it as a targeted “hit” on someone by multiple shooters who opened fire on a crowd waiting in line outside a nightspot in Birmingham’s bustling Five Points South district.
The first general election ballots are going in the mail as the presidential contest nears
While the ballot milestone is relatively quiet and comes in a state that is not a political battleground, it is a sign of how quickly Election Day is approaching after this summer's party conventions and Tuesday's first presidential debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and Trump.
11th Circuit allows Alabama to enforce its ban on gender-affirming care for minors
In a decision released Wednesday night, a majority of judges on the 11th U.S. Court of Appeals declined a request by families with transgender children for the full court to reconsider a three-judge panel’s decision to let the law go into effect.
Judge limits scope of lawsuit challenging Alabama restrictions on help for absentee ballot applications
Chief U.S. District Judge David Proctor ruled Wednesday that civic groups can pursue just one of their claims: that the law’s ban on gifts or payment for application assistance violates the Voting Rights Act’s assurances that blind, disabled or low-literacy voters can get help from a person of their choice. The judge granted the state’s request to dismiss the other claims raised in the lawsuit.
Alabama approved a medical marijuana program in 2021. Patients are still waiting for it
In 2021 Alabama overcame years of resistance in the Deep South and approved a medical cannabis program. But three years later, medical marijuana remains unavailable in Alabama because of an ongoing legal fight over some of the licenses to grow and sell the products.
Alabama to move forward with nitrogen gas execution in September after lawsuit settlement
Alabama and attorneys for Alan Miller, who was convicted of killing three men, reached a “confidential settlement agreement” to end litigation filed by Miller, according to a court document filed Monday.
Court filings provide additional details of the US’ first nitrogen gas execution
The documents filed last month in ongoing litigation provided additional details of the execution of Kenneth Smith, who was the first person put to death using nitrogen gas.
Alabama, civic groups spar over law restricting assistance with absentee ballot applications
The diverging depictions of the new law were aired during a federal hearing on Alabama’s request to dismiss a lawsuit challenging the statute. U.S. District Judge R. David Proctor did not indicate when he would rule.
Alabama executes man convicted of killing delivery driver during a 1998 robbery attempt
Keith Edmund Gavin was pronounced dead at the William C. Holman Correctional Facility in southwest Alabama, authorities said. He was convicted of capital murder in the shooting death of courier service driver William Clayton Jr. in Cherokee County.
Alabama district attorney says ‘justice demands’ new trial for death row inmate
Jefferson County District Attorney Danny Carr filed a brief expressing his support for Toforest Johnson’s bid to receive a new trial. Carr has supported a new trial since 2020, but the latest filing detailed the findings of a post-conviction review of the case.
A look at what passed and failed in the 2024 legislative session
Alabama lawmakers have ended a 2024 legislative session that saw the Republican majority win approval for a number of their top priorities.
