Alabama

Alabama House committee holds public hearings on bills limiting sex and gender instruction • Alabama Reflector

Published

2 years ago

March 6, 2024

Alabama House committee holds public hearings on bills limiting sex and gender instruction • Alabama Reflector

An Alabama House committee Wednesday held public hearings on two bills that could restrict sex and gender instruction in public schools, though neither came to a vote.

HB 130, sponsored by Rep. Mack Butler, R-Rainbow City, would prohibit classroom instruction for any K-12 student “regarding sexual orientation or gender identity.”

The bill expands a “Don’t Say Gay” law banning those discussions in kindergarten through fifth grade, a measure added in the last hours of the 2022 legislative session to a “bathroom bill.” Butler’s bill is a more limited version of legislation that did not pass out of committee last year.

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Butler said that “indoctrination” was happening in schools, and his bill would allow schools to focus on core subjects.

“It is happening all over and it is a component of Marxism, destroying the family in teaching some of these things, let it happen somewhere else other than our schools,” he said to the House Education Policy Committee.

Opponents of the bill said it could keep LGBTQ children from having access to safe space with teachers and could have unintended consequences on limiting discussion of any sexual identity or gender.

Jordan Price said the bill was part of a plan to erase LGBTQ people, and said it could also prevent the teaching of notable women.

“Every first lady would be doubly erased if we weren’t allowed to mention that they were married to men nor that they were women themselves,” Price said.

Proponents of the bill said that it would protect children.

Alabama Republican Party Chairman John Wahl said that he felt it was a “common sense bill.”

“I think this bill just strengthens the law that’s already in place and goes a little bit further making sure that we keep a political agenda or a social agenda out of our schools,” he said.

In his opening description, Butler also said that it would contribute to “purify” the schools. Butler walked that back in discussion with Rep. Barbara Drummond, D-Mobile, who said that purity was a subjective definition.

“Is that what we should be aiming for?” she asked. “Someone else’s subjectivity?”

“No, ma’am,” said Butler.

HB 195, sponsored by Rep. Susan DuBose, R-Hoover, would require sexual education in the state to teach “exclusively and emphatically teach sexual risk avoidance content.” DuBose defined sexual risk avoidance as abstinence first.

The bill does not explicitly prohibit the teaching of contraception but places limitations on instruction, including that it is in line with sexual risk avoidance; does not “normalize, encourage, or promote” sexual behavior by youth and teens; does not say that contraception is 100% effective against pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections; and “dispels any false sense of security about ‘safe sex.’”

The bill also requires teachers to instruct students on the state’s abortion ban, domestic adoption and infant-surrendering laws. “Our sex ed program will continue to teach primarily abstinence, which is now called SRA, or sexual risk avoidance,” she said.

Christina Clark Okarmus, executive director the Alabama Campaign for Adolescent Sexual Health, which was attacked by DuBose at the start of the hearing, said that Alabama has high rates of teen pregnancy. She said abstinence-only programs do not help reduce teen pregnancy or sexually-transmitted infection (STI) rates.

“I think most of us can agree that young people need messages of abstinence and prevention when it comes to sex,” she said. “This bill, HB 195, is an archaic and dangerous piece of legislation for our youth.”

Many medical and health associations endorse comprehensive sex education as the most effective, but the actual research on the impact of different sexual education programs tends to be sparse and ambiguous, according to a 2023 Hechinger Report article.

Beth Pruitt, a sexual-risk avoidance educator, said they took a holistic approach to education and included information about relationships and drug and alcohol use.

“We need to discuss that, how they are highly effective, but birth control provides zero protection against STDs and STIs,” she said. “Condoms have according to the CDC, an 18% typical use failure rate.”

The CDC says that external condoms often fail due to inconsistent or incorrect use. The CDC says the typical use failure rate is 13%.

Hannah Burkle, a professional health educator with Planned Parenthood, said that she thinks teen parents can be good parents but, in her experience, teen parents said they think that more sex education could have had an impact on them.

“We at Planned Parenthood also agree and believe that parents are the first and most important educators for their children, and from my studies as well as my work, I know that Alabama parents want comprehensive education for their kids,” she said.

Rep. Terri Collins, R-Decatur, the chair of the committee, said the bills would return for a vote after spring break.

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Alabama

Prevention Day at the Capitol highlights systems in place that are reducing substance misuse, overdose deaths

Published

20 minutes ago

March 11, 2026

Press Room

Prevention Day at the Capitol highlights systems in place that are reducing substance misuse, overdose deaths

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WSFA) – Wednesday is “Prevention Day” at the state Capitol, an effort to continue drops in substance abuse in Alabama.

The day is dedicated to raising awareness about the work and the systems in place to prevent more people from using and becoming addicted to controlled substances.

For the second year in a row, prevention professionals from across Alabama will connect at the Capitol to hear inspiring stories from young people, community partners, and those in the field of prevention. The group will also meet with lawmakers to share priorities, and feature young people leading prevention efforts in their schools.

Prevention Day at the Capitol starts at 9 a.m.

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Alabama

What to know about the Alabama man granted clemency two days before his execution

Published

12 hours ago

March 10, 2026

Press Room

What to know about the Alabama man granted clemency two days before his execution

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey on Tuesday granted clemency to a man on death row who was scheduled to be executed Thursday even though he did not personally kill anyone.

Ivey commuted Charles “Sonny” Burton’s death sentence to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Burton, 75, was convicted of capital murder for the shooting death of Doug Battle during a 1991 robbery. Another man, Derrick DeBruce, shot Battle after Burton had left the building.

The 1991 murder and legal proceedings

The shooting occurred Aug. 16, 1991, during a robbery at an AutoZone auto parts store in Talladega. Doug Battle, a 34-year-old Army veteran and father of four, was shot and killed after entering the store during the robbery.

Before they went inside, Burton said if anyone caused trouble in the store that he would “take care of it,” according to testimony.

As the robbery was ending, Battle entered the store. He threw his wallet down, got onto the floor and exchanged words with DeBruce. LaJuan McCants, who was 16 at the time, testified that Burton and others had left the store before DeBruce shot Battle in the back.

A jury convicted DeBruce and Burton of capital murder and both were sentenced to death. During closing arguments, a prosecutor argued Burton was “just as guilty as Derrick DeBruce, because he’s there to aid and assist him.” Prosecutors pointed to the statement about handling trouble as evidence that Burton was the robbery leader. Burton’s attorneys have disputed that he was the leader.

DeBruce had his death sentence overturned on appeal after a court agreed that he had ineffective counsel. DeBruce was resentenced to life imprisonment and later died in prison.

Ivey’s reasons for granting clemency

Ivey said she “cannot proceed in good conscience with the execution of Mr. Burton” when the triggerman had his sentence reduced to life imprisonment.

“I believe it would be unjust for one participant in this crime to be executed while the participant who pulled the trigger was not,” Ivey said in a statement. “To be clear, Mr. Burton will not be eligible for parole and will rightfully spend the remainder of his life behind bars for his role in the robbery that led to the murder of Doug Battle. He will now receive the same punishment as the triggerman.”

It is only the second time the Republican governor, who has presided over 25 executions, has granted clemency to a person on death row.

“The murder of Doug Battle was a senseless and tragic crime, and this decision does not diminish the profound loss felt by the Battle family. I pray that they may find peace and closure,” Ivey said.

A mix of praise and criticism

The governor’s decision drew a mix of praise and criticism.

Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall said he was “deeply disappointed” in the action and said he believes Burton’s execution should have gone forward. Marshall said Burton organized the armed robbery that led to Battle’s death. He said “longstanding Alabama law recognizes accomplice liability, as has every judge that has touched this case over three decades.”

“There has never been any doubt that Sonny Burton has Douglas Battle’s blood on his hands,” Marshall said.

Alice Marie Johnson, whom President Donald Trump had tapped last year as his “pardon czar,” praised Ivey. She said the governor “showed what courageous and common sense leadership looks like.”

“By commuting the death sentence of Charles “Sonny” Burton, she ensured that justice — not technicalities — guides the most serious decision a state can make,” Johnson wrote on social media.

Other Republican governors have granted clemency where there were concerns the person scheduled to be executed was the less culpable defendant. Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt last year commuted the sentence of Tremane Wood to life, matching the sentence of his brother who confessed to the murder.

What happens next

Burton will be moved off of Alabama’s death row, where he has been imprisoned since 1992. However, it is unclear when that will happen. A spokesperson for the Alabama Department of Corrections did not immediately return an email seeking comment.

Burton will spend the rest of his life in prison since he doesn’t have the possibility of parole.

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Alabama

New Alabama football coach Adrian Klemm faces massive task | Goodbread

Published

1 day ago

March 10, 2026

Press Room

New Alabama football coach Adrian Klemm faces massive task | Goodbread

Adrian Klemm, meet the challenge of a career.

Alabama football’s first-year offensive line coach is one of three new faces at Kalen DeBoer’s conference table. And, next year, history says there might be three more. At the major college level, heavy turnover among assistant coaches is business as usual. But make no mistake; Klemm was DeBoer’s most important hire of the offseason. He might well be the most important hire DeBoer has made in his 26 months on the job.

That’s the magnitude of the mess that Alabama’s 2025 offensive line left behind.

The Crimson Tide’s 2025 rushing attack was an insult to the word attack. It was more like a rushing surrender; ranked 123rd out of 134 FBS teams, and 15th of 16 SEC teams, at 104.1 yards per game. Rock bottom came in the SEC Championship Game, when Georgia sent it backward for minus-3 yards. It’s frankly remarkable that quarterback Ty Simpson assembled a 28-5 TD-INT ratio, as a first-year starter no less, with virtually zero help from a ground game. And while we’re on the subject of the passing game, Simpson wasn’t very well-protected, either. At 2.13 sacks allowed per game, UA ranked 90th in the country.

If Klemm even bothered to watch film of last year’s offensive line, he had to do it with one eye closed.

UA tried all sorts of combinations up front, looking for a solution to what was plainly its biggest problem. In 45 years paying attention to college football, I never saw so many substitutions on an offensive line as Alabama made in 2025. Backups got every chance that could have asked for. On one hand, it was understandable that now-fired offensive line coach Chris Kapilovic refused to stay with a failing five all season.

But it also smacked of desperation.

In the end, it was clear that no combination was effective; the first-team unit Kapilovic finally settled on late in the season was the one that got manhandled by Georgia in Atlanta.

It was a shock to the system for Alabama fans, who know what a dominant run game looks like whether they’re young or old. Jam Miller led Alabama with 504 rushing yards on the season; former UA star Derrick Henry once ran for 557 in a three-game stretch against Tennessee, LSU and Mississippi State.

Miller, of course, is no Henry. But the gap between those two is no bigger than the gap between Henry’s 2015 offensive line and the disastrous line that took the field a decade later.

Klemm is tasked with turning that mess around in a single offseason, with only one returning part-time starter in sophomore Michael Carroll, a promising cornerstone to be sure. But an offensive line is only as strong as its weakest link, and Klemm must find four links to line up beside Carroll. A collection of returning backups, transfers and incoming freshmen have a lot of improvements to make, along with a strong impression on a new position coach.

With spring practice underway, that process has begun in earnest.

And Klemm faces a taller task than any assistant on the practice field.

Tuscaloosa News columnist Chase Goodbread is also the weekly co-host of Crimson Cover TV on WVUA-23. Reach him at cgoodbread@gannett.com. Follow on X.com @chasegoodbread.

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