VictoryLand

The hearing came down to a few simple questions, “Are the machines legal? Can bingo played on anything other than paper cards to be considered bingo according to Alabama law?” The argument present by the AG’s office, said that anything other than paper was not legal. An argument, that would seem to suggest, that the world of bingo had stopped turning in the 1950s, that eBook, eMail and that the universe of smart phones, computers and a software based society did not exist.

During testimony before the commission, . . . the AG’s office presented pictures of machines that were nothing like the ones at VictoryLand, and still the ABC Chairman allow the evidence to be placed into the record. One former member of the judiciary, who would not comment with attribution said, “It was the worse case of evidentiary admission I have ever seen.”

Liberty Duke

Both sides put on brave faces concerning the case they had presented, but it would be difficult, if not impossible, to guess what was on the minds of the hearing commission. One thing seemed to be clear for most of the standing room only crowd gathered at the ABC hearing, this trial was about Milton McGregor and not necessarily about the law.

Espy and state Sen. Billy Beasley have questioned why the attorney general is fighting the liquor license at VictoryLand, but is not questioning those at the three casinos operated by the Poarch Band of Creek Indians. Espy also questioned why Strange’s office has not contested the liquor license for Greenetrack in west Alabama, which he said unlike VictoryLand is not competition for the Poarch Creek casinos.

Espy said the casino had a license for years before closing in 2010 and that there were never any issues, and said the attorney general protesting a liquor license is unprecedented. He said the attorney general does not have the legal authority to contest the license and is usurping the ABC Board and local elected officials, who have argued the establishment is legal.

Amy Bishop

The plaintiffs asked Circuit Judge Ruth Ann Hall to order the defendants comply with discovery and subpoena requests in a "reasonable and cost-effective manner." The plaintiffs are seeking phone records for numbers assigned to Karbhari, former UAH President Dr. David Williams and several UAH employees and "security detail information" for Karbhari, Williams and Shelbie King Hall, the UAH administration building. 

They are also seeking "correspondence and communications transmitted by and to Dr. Vistasp Karbhari regarding Amy Bishop via University email accounts."

Playing legal hardball with families who have seen loved ones killed or injured on UA property could turn into a public-relations nightmare. 

Worse for the university, perhaps, is the thought that any of the lawsuits could advance to the discovery stage. If that happens, the public could wind up finding out what happened with Amy Bishop's tenure process in the weeks and months leading up to the shooting. As we reported previously, evidence strongly suggests that Bishop, while she had a prickly personality, met the criteria for tenure: 

"Reports about Bishop's teaching ability are a mixed bag. Some students rated her highly, finding her to be insightful, effective, and caring. Others complained, saying she lectured mostly from the textbook, gave unfair tests, and had a distant manner. 

But Bishop's record as a researcher, alone, indicates that she probably met the criteria for tenure. UAH recently received an Area Research Enhancement Award (AREA) from the National Institues of Health, a grant designed to promote research at universities that have not traditionally received much NIH support. Who brought home that major grant? Amy Bishop."

If the anonymous professor had legitimate grounds for thinking Amy Bishop might be a threat to herself or others, there were other avenues to take. He could have contacted human resources, the legal office, campus police--the list goes on. 

My understanding about the tenure process, and I worked in higher education for a long time, is that it's supposed to be about a junior faculty member's capabilities in three areas--teaching, research, and service. In many instances, I'm told, service carries almost no weight, teaching carries some weight, and research carries a whole lot of weight. Research, which is particularly important in the sciences, was Amy Bishop's strong suit--and that leads us to believe that she almost certainly met the criteria for tenure. 

I've seen no indication that the tenure process is supposed to be an opportunity for uninformed and unqualified individuals to question a candidate's mental health. And it certainly is not a time for administrators to allow such individuals to sway life-changing decisions.

Jack Bogle

We are the largest holder (in Smith & Wesson), and we probably own about 5 percent of every corporation in America. The reason we do is that our strategy is one of hold the market. Smith & Wesson is in the market, so we will be holding that. 

Should we speak up? The answer is yes. Should we get out of the stock? I think that is pretty debatable because if your whole strategy is to hold the whole market, you end up making a whole lot of judgments that are never quite as clear as one might hope. 

It's something we ought to be thinking about, but we couldn’t go to Smith & Wesson  management and say, "Get out of the gun business." That’s their business. . . . If we got out of that stock, the company wouldn’t even know it; somebody else would own it. You don’t have the kind of clout you would think that a 5 percent or so owner would have.

Jennifer Paige Clark

Jennifer Clark could be "the sweetest person," according to Mobile County District Court Charles McKnight, and was well liked. "But get her in a courtroom and you could get something completely different,""said McKnight. "She was a very hard worker. She was tenacious to a fault. She vigorously represented all her clients regardless of their station in life. I admired her willingness to represent the lowest of the low."

Rick Sheehy

Rob Riley

Lt. Gov. Rick Sheehy was a road warrior in his job, driving thousands of miles across the state to deliver speeches and cut ribbons. 

But a monthlong investigation by The World-Herald uncovered a secret life during that travel, involving 2,300 phone calls to four women, other than his wife, during the past four years. 

Sheehy, who served eight years in his post, resigned abruptly Saturday after the newspaper contacted him Friday about the calls, made on a state-issued cell phone.

The investigation showed that many of the calls to the four women involved long conversations in the middle of the night. . . .

The four women Sheehy called regularly include two former elected officials widely known in their communities. One of the women, a Bellevue doctor and former City Council member there, said she had a four-year affair with the lieutenant governor. Another woman, a former school board president and Chamber of Commerce official in Holdrege, did not respond to numerous requests for an interview. 

The two other women — one living in Texas, the other in Colorado — told the newspaper that their late-night calls were not sexual in nature.

Liberty Duke

A request also was made for email correspondence between Sheehy and (Dr. Theresa) Hatcher and Sheehy and Michele Ehresman, a former director of the Holdrege Area Chamber of Commerce. 

The records show, for example, Sheehy made or received 73 calls to and from a Holdrege area cellphone, some late in the evening, on 10 days in January 2012.

"We won't do a thing about cases involving war crimes, financial fraud, or prosecutorial misconduct. But, by God, we are going to make the world safe from traffic-ticket scofflaws."

The charges, outlined in a 77-count indictment, described "a well-understood conspiracy of silence" that created two distinct courts: one where typical citizens paid for their infractions, and a second where offenders with the right connections won acquittals or saw their fines or cases disappear. . . .

The indictment alleged that a practice was more the rule than the exception--judges or their assistants shredding documents, shifting cases to friendly judges, and hiding behind code words. Instead of bluntly asking a colleague to quash a ticket, judges allegedly asked for "consideration" on certain cases and then watched them disappear. 

Consideration, the indictment said, was reserved for friends and relatives, ward leaders, and contractors or merchants who could trade favors of their own. Requests came by phone, in person, and in notes dropped in a box at a local bar.

Hayden Barnes (right) and FIRE lawyer Bob Corn-Revere

"College administrators have been blatantly and willfully violating student rights for decades, but they have far too often dodged personal responsibility. Not so today," said FIRE President Greg Lukianoff. "We hope this serves as a much-needed wake up call to college administrators that it's time to start paying close attention to the basic rights of their students."

Hal and Jessica Taylor

Date: October 16, 2009
Destination: Sumter, South Carolina
Purpose of Flight: energy project meeting
Passengers on Board: Governor Bob Riley, Bowen Ballard, Executive Security Officer Hal Taylor
Return Flight: October 16, 2009

Date: November 21, 2009
Destination: Warm Springs, GA
Purpose of Flight: attend Southern Governors Association annual meeting
Passengers on Board: Governor Bob Riley, Chief of Staff Dave Stewart, Deputy Chief of Staff Josh Blades, Executive Security Officer Hal Taylor.

The Hearing Commission found that the nightclub was operated “in a manner that creates a substantial risk of public harm to the public health, welfare, safety and morals,” Capt. Hal Taylor, assistant enforcement director for the ABC Board, said in a statement.

Jessica Taylor and Bob Riley

"Not only is it a clear violation of state campaign finance laws, it is a violation of the Republicans' promise to bring ethics and transparency to Alabama politics," Kennedy said at a news conference.

After Kennedy's news conference, the treasurer of Riley's Alabama 2014 PAC, Jessica Taylor, said the PAC mistakenly received the money in March from the Republican State Leadership Committee (RSLC). 

"Once it was determined that these funds should not have been accepted, they were immediately returned on June 24, 2011," she said in a statement released by the governor's son, Birmingham attorney Rob Riley.

The RSLC and Alabama 2014 treasurer Jessica Taylor said the money was returned on June 24, three months after the transfer took place. 

On Monday, the Democratic Party asked Strange to recuse himself from the investigation, citing the fact that Jessica Medeiros Garrison, Strange’s former campaign manager, had become director of the Republican Attorneys General Association, an affiliate of the Republican State Leadership Committee. . . . 

Under the state’s Fair Campaign Practices Act, a violation of the state’s ban on PAC-to-PAC transfers is a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by up to a year in county jail and a $6,000 fine.

Judge Wade McCree bares all

Wayne County Circuit Judge Wade McCree was suspended without pay after it was learned that he was having sex with a woman whose child-support case was pending in his court, Fox 2 News Detroit reports. 

McCree was paid $12,000 a month prior to his suspension. McCree’s pay will be held in escrow until disciplinary proceedings against him are completed. He is currently being investigated for having sex with Geniene La’Shay Mott, a woman who took her ex-boyfriend to McCree’s court on felony charges that he was not paying child support. 

“I met him as a litigant, a complaining witness in his courtroom, and he stayed around after the case was over and that’s when the second half of the flirting started and we went from there and our relationship picked up,” she said. “It went from being a summer fling and just something to do to falling in love, promises of marriage, me getting pregnant, us buying a house together, name it.”

Joan Brunwasser

Joan Brunwasser (JB): You recently wrote a biting piece entitled "Obama Department Of Justice Finally Takes A Stand, By Cracking Down on Traffic-Ticket Fraud in Philly." Surely, you jest.

Roger Shuler (RS): I wish it was a joke, but it's not. Eric Holder and company actually have indicted nine traffic-court judges in Philadelphia for a widespread scheme to fix tickets. This is such a low level of court that you don't even have to be a lawyer to sit on that bench. And yet, the Obama DOJ is going after them. And two of the judges are charged with fixing one ticket each. 

Most people who care about justice probably don't have a problem with corrupt officials being outed, whether it's in a high-level position or not. But when you think about the justice-related problems the Obama administration has ignored--the Don Siegelman case in Alabama, the Paul Minor case in Mississippi, to name just two--you have to wonder, "Who is minding the store?"

JB: Let's go back to Don Siegelman for a minute, Roger. Don's conviction for a non-crime put at risk every single public official, past, present or future, who accepts campaign donations. That's a scary thought. Can you explain that one to us?

RS: It is scary on a number of levels, Joan. Most Americans probably understand the definition of a standard bribe--a person holds an office, someone offers him money or another incentive to provide a favor, and the favor gets done. That's what I call an "everyday bribe"; people understand what that is. But in the context of a campaign contribution, the law is different. And that's because our system is built around candidates raising funds in order to run for office.

I'm not sure bribery law regarding a campaign contribution even is spelled out via statute, so many officeholders have no way of knowing what it is. It is spelled out in case law, in a U.S. Supreme Court case styled McCormick v. United States. That says prosecutors must prove "an explicit agreement," also known as a quid pro quo ("something for something" deal) in order to convict for an alleged bribe in the campaign context. . . .

Fuller's jury instructions, contrary to law, did not require that an "explicit agreement" be present.

That means Don Siegelman resides in a federal prison because he violated a "crime" that Judge Mark Fuller created; it's not based on real law. This might be the scariest part of all about the Siegelman case: You can be convicted in our country of a "crime" that a judge simply pulls out of thin air on the bench. There is nothing that requires a judge to base his jury instructions on the real law.

JB: How do you explain the president's reluctance to take on any of the hard but important cases like Siegelman's? Is he afraid? If so, of whom? Of what? 

RS: I can only guess at an answer. I think it's possible that Karl Rove has some damaging information about the president or his associates, and Obama doesn't want to risk any kind of counter attack from the GOP. I also think it's possible that a genuine inquiry would go right to the top of the Bush family, and Obama simply does not have the stomach for such an ugly fight. 

How is this for irony? The Democratic Party, since passage of the Civil Rights Act in 1964, has consistently stuck its neck out to stand up for justice issues. In the process, it has paid a huge electoral price, just as Lyndon Johnson predicted. But now we have our first black president turning his back on the very justice issues that have given his party its moral authority. On the really big issues of the past 40 years, Democrats have always been on the right side of history. Now, it looks like Obama is going to break with that tradition--and in essence, that leaves us with two major parties that are both dysfunctional and ineffective on justice issues.

No wonder Anonymous and the Occupy movement have come to hold out hope for many Americans. We certainly have seen no reason to hope that Obama or Holder will restore the rule of law in our country.

JB: So, where does that leave us, Roger? We've already seen how movements can be and have been infiltrated, compromised and neutralized. Is there any hope for massive grassroots pressure that can accomplish nothing less than the restoration of fairness in our court system? Without that, everyone is at risk and democracy is just a concept that doesn't very much resemble present reality.

RS: I think it leaves us in a state of decline. Broken justice systems are a classic hallmark of dysfunctional societies. Press reports about the recent rape/murder case in India stated that a number of citizens witnessed the attack but refused to come forward because they did not trust the justice system. They did not want to get involved in a process they knew to be corrupt.

We probably aren't at that level yet, but that's where we seem to be headed.

Peter B. Collins

Since the rise of Rush Limbaugh and the shift of hundreds of radio stations to wall-to-wall conservative talk in the 1990s, progressives have faced a decidedly uphill battle. In my experience, most station owners and managers have a strong bias to the right, and with a few exceptions, the rest just look for the easiest way to make maximum profit.

It's no accident that Limbaugh was recruited for the heavily market-researched model that was labelled "non-guested confrontation talk radio" after Reagan's Federal Communications Commission (FCC) lifted the Fairness Doctrine in 1987. Clinton's 1996 Telecommunications Act removed ownership limits that led to rapid consolidation and the troublesome concentration of control by national operators we see today. Three companies control almost all of the talk radio stations with competitive signals in the major markets: Clear Channel, CBS and Cumulus.

Air America raised the expectations of many of us--and consistently disappointed. Recruiting comedian and author Al Franken as their marquee star, his radio show was flat and not very funny. For some reason, he was paired with NPR veteran Katherine Lanpher, who was not permitted to say much. Topics and guests were safely anti-Bush and pro-Kerry, but real liberal, anti-war voices were not invited; Franken talked up his United Services Organization (USO) tours in Iraq as evidence that he supported the troops.

In its initial business model, Air America made two major blunders: bundling and brokering. Embracing antiquated practices from the 1950s, they tried to force affiliate stations to carry all of their programs; when most station owners rejected this "bundling," they were forced to lease time on stations, which was costly and disastrous.

Despite the sharp decline in the progressive radio business, we all hoped that the end of the Bush presidency and the 2008 elections would produce new growth in lib talk. With the protracted primary battle between Obama and Clinton, and Obama's inspiring campaign against McCain, we expected to see a spike in ratings and affiliates and hoped the Obama campaign and other Democrats would spend money to reach our listeners, their voters. There was no measurable audience growth and only a precious few campaign dollars were spent on our programs and our affiliate stations.

In August of 2008, all of the progressive shows converged on the Obama coronation in Denver, but we were ignored by the Obama campaign. We were assigned a radio row in the basement of the convention hall, under an escalator. All the delegates and dignitaries whisked past us on the escalator, and when they reached the main floor, the first radio booth they saw was FOX News. Team Obama mostly declined our requests for interviews and we ended up mostly talking with Team Hillary. Schultz was so pissed that he pulled out after the second day and returned to his base in Fargo.

Ratings range from flat to flat-lined: In 2012, Clear Channel-owned KPOJ in Portland and CBS-owned KPTK in Seattle showed audience numbers so low that they were not listed by Arbitron; Clear Channel's WDTW in Detroit barely showed a pulse at .1 percent, and the once-powerhouse, now-struggling media conglomerate recently agreed to donate WDTW to a local community group. In his second attempt at WVKO in Columbus, Ohio, Gary Richards was forced to sign off just before Christmas 2012. Progressive talker Jeff Santos waged a valiant four-year struggle in Boston, and I was a consultant in his effort last year to add eight new markets in battleground states; we had no choice but to lease air time, and once again the Democrats who had the most to gain failed to support the effort.

The only exception I've found is Madison, Wisconsin, market #100, where Clear Channel's WXXM-FM, "The Mic" jumped a full share point to a respectable 3.3 this fall. . . .

Al Franken is in the Senate, Ed Schultz appears to be doing well on MSNBC, Thom Hartmann has a nightly TV show on the RT network, Bill Press and Stephanie Miller are simulcast on Current TV (which has just been sold to Al Jazeera). But their radio shows face tough sledding and possible elimination in 2013.

As someone who took substantial personal risk in syndication and station ownership, I can tell you that progressive talk has not panned out as a viable business. Clinton's 1996 deregulation of broadcasting and the end of the Fairness Doctrine in 1987 didn't help. I do think the FCC should require some balance of viewpoints on the stations it regulates, through the license renewal process, but there is simply no interest on the part of Obama and his appointees in regulatory reform--even as the president is pilloried by right-wing radio on a daily basis. Air America's parade of management blunders produced the downward spiral that brought us to this tipping point for progressive talk radio, and most station owners, rightly or wrongly, see that failure as an indication that audiences won't support liberal talk radio.

In radio, we always like to end on an upbeat note. Here's the best I can muster: if you want to help keep the surviving progressive talk shows alive, subscribe to the podcasts of your favorite progressive hosts - it's a critical stream of revenue as these programs fight for survival.

Ray Watts

February 12, 2013 

Dear Dr. Watts: 

I used to think being president of UAB would be a pretty cool job. I became an admirer of the university quickly after moving to Birmingham from Missouri in 1978. I covered the early years of the Blazers athletics program under Gene Bartow for the now-defunct Birmingham Post-Herald and went on to work at the university in a variety of editorial position for almost 20 years. My employment came to an end in May 2008 when I was unlawfully terminated from my job by various forces under your predecessor, Carol Garrison. 

That experience taught me a number of inconvenient truths about UAB that I wish I had never known. And it's why I do not envy you in the task that lies ahead. 

The cold truth is that Garrison's reign was not just unpleasant for me; it was an unmitigated disaster for UAB as a whole. I chronicled some of the malfeasance and incompetence that took place on her watch in a post titled "UAB Dysfunction Doesn't Happen in a Vacuum." 

Perhaps Garrison's greatest failing was that she allowed a culture of fraud to take over the campus. The place is riddled with liars, cheats, and other bad actors. I submit that your No. 1 task will be to root out moral decay and restore a sense of integrity on the Southside. 

Am I overstating the problem? Well, consider a couple of examples from my own experience. 

Evidence at my grievance hearing showed there were no grounds for discipline of any kind, much less immediate termination. In fact, UAB's own committee found I should not have been terminated. But Garrison upheld the termination anyway. Indisputable evidence shows I was fired not because of any misconduct or performance issues on my part, but because I was reporting on this blog (on my own time, with my own resources) about the political prosecution of former Governor Don Siegelman--and that apparently was a hot topic that was not to be publicly discussed, even though I had a First Amendment right to do so. 

Am I imagining all of this? Not in the least. A UAB human-resources official admitted to me in a tape-recorded phone conversation that I was targeted because of my reporting on the Siegelman case. You can hear the conversation in a video at the end of this post. 

Here is where we get to moral decay, and it's apparent in an employment lawsuit I filed against the UA Board of Trustees and various individuals at UAB: The same woman who admitted I was targeted because of the reporting on the Siegelman case, denied in an affidavit that I was terminated because of my blog. At least four other UAB employees who had reason to know the truth made similar untruthful statements under oath. As I'm sure you know, their actions amount to perjury, which is a felony. 

The ugliness does not end there. William M. Acker Jr., an 85-year-old federal judge in Birmingham, granted summary judgment without giving me an opportunity to conduct discovery. That cannot be done under the law, and everyone with three days of law school knows it. How gross is Acker's misconduct? It would be the equivalent of a doctor giving a patient strychnine instead of aspirin. 

But why should this concern you? Individuals in the UAB Office of Counsel, led by John Daniel and Lisa Huggins, have to know that Acker ruled unlawfully in a way that benefits the university. In fact, a strong argument can be made that Acker engaged in criminal conduct, and this is spelled out at 18 U.S.C. 242 ("Deprivation of Rights Under Color of Law") and a 1997 U.S. Supreme Court case styled United States v. Lanier. 

Did Daniel and Huggins knowingly engage in a conspiracy to violate Section 242 on UAB's behalf? If so, they and the university could have serious problems on their hands.
If you are like most medical folks I've met at UAB, your primary concerns center around biomedical research funding and revenue from patient care. But you have inherited a situation that involves criminal conduct on the part of UAB personnel, and you would be wise not to ignore it. 

Carol Garrison was like a lax parent who allowed 5 year olds to play with matches. You didn't create this situation, but it's your responsibility now. If you don't handle it properly, you might find flames--and the law--licking at your heels. 

UAB desperately needs new leadership. Garrison was preceded by two other failed presidents--W. Ann Reynolds and J. Claude Bennett. That means UAB has been running in place, at best, for more than 15 years. 

You clearly are a man of strong scientific credentials. But your presidency probably will be judged by your ability to restore integrity to UAB. Consider this quote from Theodore Roosevelt: 

"Unless a man is honest we have no right to keep him in public life; it matters not how brilliant his capacity; it hardly matters how great his power of doing good service on certain lines may be. . . . No man who is corrupt, no man who condones corruption in others, can possibly do his duty by the community." 

I hope you will take those words to heart. I also hope you will prove to be the president that gets UAB back on the right track.

Sincerely,

Roger Shuler (aka "Legal Schnauzer")

Dana Siegelman on HuffPost Live

Siegelman's daughter Dana recently spoke to HuffPost Live about the fight to free her father, who is currently being held on bribery charges despite a six-year battle to overturn his conviction. Siegelman discussed an encounter she had with Biden during a meeting of the Democratic party chairs in Washington D.C.

"I was able to sneak up and shake his hand, I held it tight and told him I was on a mission to free my dad," she told HuffPost Live. "His eyes got very big and he generally announced to the people around me, and to me, 'I am too.'"

Dana Siegelman said Biden's words "meant the world" to her and seemed to indicate that the White House is aware that the Department of Justice hasn't been doing a thorough job.

Dana Siegelman told HuffPost Live that she thinks politics continue to play a role in why her father remains in prison.

"The president is aware he has to work with Congress over the next four years," she said. "The last thing he wants is a kickback from overturning a lot of these Bush appointees that are still there. I believe only 30 percentage of the Department of Justice has been replaced with Obama appointees. So you still have 70 percent. We don't know if they're pledging allegiance to the former president or not, but it is disheartening to see people who 10 years ago approved the prosecution against my father being the same ones denying his freedom now."

Hal and Jessica Taylor, with Bob Riley

Welcome to the life and "Times" of the Taylors. The purpose of this blog is to be a lifelong reminder of the Grace, Love, Mercy, Peace and Blessings the Lord has given to our family. My prayer is that one day our children will read this blog and see what an amazing God we serve.

I am Jessica Taylor. I love the Lord. I have an amazing husband, Hal Taylor and two amazing children, John Harris and Elizabeth Lynn (Lizzy Lynn) Taylor. I am a sinner that is saved by God's grace. I am not perfect, but I strive learn more about God daily, love my husband, and teach my children the disciplines of the Gospel. Also, I am not a writer. In fact, I really don't like writing. I want to have a journal of all our life adventures and the journey's the Lord puts in our path. I meant to start this a long time ago, but as usual, life got in the way.

I was born September 28, 1978 in Birmingham, Alabama. My parents are Jeffrey Harris and Judith (Lynn) Early Flannery. I have one older sister (Brittney Flannery Thompson) and one younger brother (Jeffrey Harris Flannery, Jr.). I am blessed with a family that loves the Lord and each other. I grew up in Birmingham and had the wonderful privilege of attending Briarwood Presbyterian Church as well as Briarwood Presbyterian school. I graduated from Auburn University with a double major in Public Relations and Spanish.

After graduating college I moved back to Birmingham and worked for the Hoover Chamber of Commerce. I was the Membership director which really helped me learn how to get out and meet people. While working for the Chamber, I met then Congressman Bob Riley who was the keynote speaker at Briarwood's patriotic rally service for the 4th of July. . . . 

Anyway, I met Bob Riley that Sunday, and he announced he was running for Governor that following Monday. His campaign headquarters were in Homewood, AL so I went down and volunteered to help. I really didn't think I would get into politics. I did always dream of going to work everyday in a suit. I thought I was going to be an architect, until I went through 9th grade math and shot those dreams right out of the water. Regardless, I wanted to have a career wearing a business suit. On New Year's Eve of 2011, Congressman Riley "told" me that I was going to start working for him full time. I started out as a field representative, and quickly moved to his head scheduler. I loved that position. I told him every move to make, which was pretty stressful, but at the same time neat to see how his schedule formed his legacy. I worked day and night, went to every local fair, including the "Chitlin' Festival" and the "Rattle Snake Rodeo" campaigning for him. He won the primary and after a long legal battle won the general election. I remember standing in Rob Riley's law office with Rob, the Governor and Toby Roth when the concession call from Governor Siegelman came in. In true Bob Riley fashion he was gracious to the incumbent governor. Moments later he looked at me and asked, "are your bags packed?" I replied confused, "packed for what?" He quickly blurted, "MONTGOMERY." To this day I have never formally interviewed for any job with Governor Riley.

Liberty Duke

My favorite memory of working for Governor Riley is meeting my wonderful husband, Hal Taylor. We met on the campaign trail, and Governor Riley set us up on our first date. He takes all the credit for our marriage, and admitted it at our wedding. We were married on August 27, 2005. I will have another blog on that later.

You see, July 4th is my favorite holiday. I love it more then any other. My father graduated from the Naval Academy in 1969 and served our country for many years. I burst with pride every July 4th when I see my father stand when "Anchor's Away" is played during the July 4th service. That is why it is my favorite holiday. I have a lot of pride in our country. We are so blessed to be founded by men and women who believed Scripture to be God-breathed, God to be the Triune God, and the sanctity of life. Those same men and women fought for me so that I can openly read that divine written book whenever I please. No other nation in the world can claim this heritage. I am so thankful for it, and thankful for God's grace in allowing me to be born and reared in America the Beautiful.

Paul Minor

The Fifth Circuit's error was especially egregious because the government expressly and repeatedly waived any claim that the district court's instructions were correct. Prior to Skilling, Minor sought interlocutory review of a Fifth Circuit decision affirming some of his convictions and reversing others. After he filed his petition but before the government responded, this Court decided Skilling. Citing Skilling, the government then declared, "The [district] court's reliance on state law was incorrect because the honest-services statute 'establish[es] a uniform national standard.'"

The government made the same concession in its brief to the Fifth Circuit. It did so again in oral argument, even after a panel member declared that she was "sort of appalled" by the government's concession.

Ted Rollins

I remember when I read the prenup, I thought it was odd that he wanted control over my health care, and general power of attorney over me to sign any document for me. Had I realized and taken the time back then I would have realized the whole marriage was a trap. 

I remembered once again Monica Bulich's words on the phone to me when I was living with Ted in Charlottesville: "I know what he wanted with me; you just have to ask yourself what he wants with you . . . an older woman with two kids and nothing. . . ."

I think she knew he was gay or bi. I think she knew he was after my sons. Wish I could talk to her now that she is much older; she must be 50 by now. I wonder if she could shed some light on her life with [Ted].

The distinction between a victim's gender and a perpetrator's sexual orientation is important because many child molesters don't really have an adult sexual orientation. They have never developed the capacity for mature sexual relationships with other adults, either men or women. Instead, their sexual attractions focus on children--boys, girls, or children of both sexes.

The important point is that many child molesters cannot be meaningfully described as homosexuals, heterosexuals, or bisexuals (in the usual sense of those terms) because they are not really capable of a relationship with an adult man or woman. Instead of gender, their sexual attractions are based primarily on age. These individuals--who are often characterized as fixated--are attracted to children, not to men or women.

Studies on who commits child sexual abuse vary in their findings, but the most common finding is that the majority of sexual offenders are family members or are otherwise known to the child. Sexual abuse by strangers is not nearly as common as sexual abuse by family members.

Research further shows that men perpetrate most instances of sexual abuse, but there are cases in which women are the offenders.

Despite a common myth, homosexual men are not more likely to sexually abuse children than heterosexual men are.

Roadblocks go up at VictoryLand

Application for a writ of mandamus or of prohibition directed to a judge or judges shall be made by filing a petition with the clerk of the appellate court having jurisdiction thereof with certificate of service on the respondent judge or judges and on all parties to the action in the trial court.

If the court is of the opinion that the writ should not be granted, it shall deny the petition. Otherwise, it shall order that an answer to the petition be filed by the respondents within the time fixed by the order. . . . The clerk shall advise the parties of the dates on which briefs are to be filed, if briefs are required, and of the date of oral argument. The proceeding shall be given preference over ordinary civil cases.

"Mandamus is a drastic and extraordinary writ to be issued only where there is a clear, legal right in the petitioner to the order sought; only where there is an imperative duty upon the respondent to perform, accompanied by a refusal to do so; only where there is a lack of another adequate remedy; and only where there is properly invoked jurisdiction of the court. Ex parte Army Aviation Center Federal Credit Union, 477 So. 2d 379 (Ala. 1985)."

Generally, the writ will not be used to control or review discretionary acts by a lower court. Ex parte Edwards, 20 Ala.App. 567, 568, 104 So. 53, 54 (1925).

We state again that only the rarest of circumstances merit intervention by mandamus. . . . We also point out that circumstances involving alleged errors of judgment, or errors in the exercise of judicial discretion, would not constitute grounds for invoking supervisory mandamus. Ex parte Nice, 407 So.2d 874 (Ala., 1981)