Corrections Corporation of America Lobbyists in Alabama

Tobin "Toby" Bernard Roth & John W. Hagood of Capital Resources, LLC

*Updated 6/12/2012  -  Alabama Judge Says Enough With the Debtor's Prison  Roth & Hagood may not have managed to create a CCA prison in Alabama, but as the linked article illustrates, they've been doing a lot of damage in a short span of time. A record check of Judicial Correction Services in the Alabama SOS database shows the entity address as the Capital Resources, LLC Alabama office of Roth & Hagood.

"Correctional officials see danger in prison overcrowding. Others see opportunity. The nearly two million Americans behind bars—the majority of them nonviolent offenders—mean jobs for depressed regions and windfalls for profiteers." --Eric Schlosser The Atlantic

Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) has been slithering in and out of Alabama to  some degree since *the late 1990's when Hal W. Bloom, Jr. (The Bloom Group) lobbied briefly for the corporation. Fine & Geddie were next in 2006. In 2011, new players Roth & Hagood are entering the 'incarcerate for profit' game-- CCA is back, and possibly positioning themselves to profit from the "meanest immigration law in the country."

Who else in state political power will benefit if CCA becomes Alabama's next nightmare reality? Someone always does. Alabama didn't become one of the most politically corrupt states in the nation by chance-- it's an honor among elected thieves that they strive to excel at dishonor, every chance they get.

Will Alabama eventually go the way of Arizona and allow CCA to reap windfall profits from HB 56?

What happened in Arizona, in the run up to their anti-immigration law, SB 1070, gives us a glimpse into the intertwining of the Prison-Industrial Complex, the agenda of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), and the undue influence both held over Arizona's elected officials in adopting the stern immigration legislation. The same law that cost long-time AZ Senator Russell Pearce his seat in a recent recall election largely fueled by citizen outrage over SB 1070. NPR reports:

It was last December at the Grand Hyatt in Washington, D.C. Inside, there was a meeting of a secretive group called the American Legislative Exchange Council. Insiders call it ALEC.

It was there that Pearce's idea took shape.

Pearce and the Corrections Corporation of America have been coming to these meetings for years. Both have seats on one of several of ALEC's boards.

And this bill was an important one for the company. According to Corrections Corporation of America reports reviewed by NPR, executives believe immigrant detention is their next big market. Last year, they wrote that they expect to bring in "a significant portion of our revenues" from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the agency that detains illegal immigrants.

Once Pearce's bill landed on the AZ House floor sponsors jumped on and the money started to flow from CCA:

Thirty of the 36 co-sponsors received donations over the next six months, from prison lobbyists or prison companies — Corrections Corporation of America, Management and Training Corporation and The Geo Group.

Elected officials rattle on incessantly about the dangers of prison overcrowding and how "we must deal with this pressing issue" in our states, but their true motives are simpler and more devious: it's all about the money and what CCA is willing to pay to gain access to a steady flow of prisoners.

In 2003, CCA paid the State of Alabama $25,000 benefiting a PAC for former Governor Riley's 2003 Alabama Excellence Initiative Fund aka "The Riley Plan" which voters defeated by a wide margin. What was going on in Alabama in 2003, coupled with Bob Riley approving a flurry of prisoner transfers to CCA facilities in other states, gives us a hint of the power of CCA's monetary persuasion. Via AP 6/26/03:

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) -- Alabama will transfer about 1,400 male inmates to a private prison in Mississippi to help address the state's overcrowded prison system.
Gov. Bob Riley and the Alabama Department of Corrections have authorized an emergency contract with Corrections Corporation of America to send the inmates to CCA's Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility in Tutwiler, Miss., CCA said in a statement issued Thursday.
The contract with the medium-security facility will be on a short-term basis while the state develops a plan for the future, the statement said.
The state is trying to comply with two court orders to end overcrowding -- one calling for removal of state prisoners from county jails and another ordering the state to reduce the number of inmates at Tutwiler Prison for women in Wetumpka.
The state has already sent 300 women prisoners to a private lockup in Louisiana to alleviate overcrowding at Tutwiler. 

Alabama has always had issues with prison overcrowding. Those long-standing problems will only worsen with the recent state budget cuts directly impacting the state's woefully inadequate judicial system. Admittedly, there is a real dilemma with outdated facilities that are overloaded, understaffed and not serving anyone any good--staff, inmate or taxpayers.

The same taxpayers that always carry the load of Alabama's poor political decisions, have also paid dearly for Alabama's attitude of 'incarcerate, not rehabilitate' for decades, and it appears the Alabama legislature is content to lumber down that same ineffective path for some time to come.

Or is it?

With the presence of notorious GOP operative Toby Roth, and the former head of the Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM) John Hagood, now on the CCA payroll, there may be a change coming. There's an oddity in Hagood that reminds us of the strange circumstance of former Alabama Department of Corrections (ALDOC) Deputy Commissioner Vernon Barnett. Mr. Barnett was a Riley appointee in the ALDOC.

Barnett moved quickly from an all-but-done-deal position as the successor to outgoing ALDOC Commissioner Richard Allen, into another position as an ADEM lawyer. He figured prominently in former state legislator Greg Canfield's coal ash bill that moved at lightning speed into law. A majority of Alabama Power Company's 26 state lobbyists were hard pushers for the wrong-headed legislation. (Canfield is now enjoying a plum role as the head of Alabama's quasi-governmental economic development agency.)

It seems ridiculous that a background in corrections translates to a job in environmental management, and vice versa.The two careers seem as far removed from each other as ethics in Alabama politicians, but here once again, is a connecting path between the two departments with Hagood in the employ of CCA.

Roth, on the other hand, is a very savvy political animal with on-high powerful connections. He's not going to waste his time on anything that doesn't have big money and bigger power attached to it for him to glorify himself. His mere presence with CCA is very unsettling and indicates a high probability that something big is in the works behind the curtain, out of public view.

Hagood, Roth and Barnett all have one thing in common: deep connections to Bob Riley. Mr. Riley stunned everyone by suddenly announcing his 'new job' and beating a rapid departure to DC to become a lobbyist earlier this year. He's well-positioned to aid Roth & Hagood on the federal level in their CCA endeavors with Alabama's representatives in Congress, especially the two powerful federal purse-string pullers, Spencer Bachus and Richard Shelby. (No relation to the author.)

Alabama tried this private prison idea before in Perry County with bad results. Less than a year into the contract, Alabama had to buy the facility back from the LCS Corporation and wasted $60 million dollars in the process. The state seems poised to take another bite at the private prison poison apple, and this time they couldn't have picked a more unsavory corporate character than CCA. 

If Alabama's anti-immigration law stands the test of an expected SCOTUS challenge, violators of the law will have to be housed somewhere. We don't believe it's a series of chance coincidences that so many moving parts, with connections to other states actions, don't have the same kinds of connections in Alabama.

Here's what we do know about Alabama that gives us pause:

• HB 56 is a bill rooted in ALEC agenda--the state legislature imposed their own draconian ideas into the final legislation creating the "meanest" immigration law in the country
• ALEC has made strong inroads into Alabama in the last decade
• The (Koch funded think tank) Alabama Policy Institute is firmly on-board with prison privatization
• Senator Jabo Waggoner, an ALEC member, is in place as the chairman of the powerful Senate Rules Committee in the legislature 

Proponents of prison privatization always make the same case based on false positives: "saving thinly-stretched state budgets money," "removing a burden from the state," etc. As with other states that have bought what CCA peddles, reality eventually settles in, and the numbers game just doesn't add up for anyone involved except CCA's bottom line and a few well-lined political pockets.

*Update: Osborne Ink upload Senator Arthur Orr's SB63 bill for 2012 Alabama session

              (Rep Jim McClendon has two bills HB30 & HB36 that mirror ALEC's)

               Homeland Security, ICE & Alabama Representative Aderholt

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Congressman Gutierrez Heading to Alabama With Nine Member Delegation Against HB 56

Flash--Mercedes Executive Arrested in Tuscaloosa Under Alabama's Immigration Law

PRESS CONFERENCE: 10 HOUSE DEMOCRATS HEAD TO ALABAMA MONDAY FOR AD HOC HEARING ON IMMIGRATION    

Rep. Gutierrez: "I am going to Alabama to stand with the good, decent people of

Alabama to fight back and defend what I think is right and just."

November 17, 2011

Media Contact: Douglas Rivlin (202) 225-8203

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(Washington, DC) -- Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) and nine other House Democrats are traveling to Alabama on Monday for an ad hoc hearing on immigration and Alabama's HB56 immigration law.  A group of five of those traveling held a press conference today in Washington to discuss the trip.  In addition to Rep. Gutierrez, who chairs the Immigration Task Force of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, those speaking at today's press conference included Terri A. Sewell of Alabama, Congressional Hispanic Caucus Chair Charlie Gonzalez of Texas, Congressional Progressive Caucus Co-Chair Raul Grijalva of Arizona, Rep. Joe Baca of California, and Rep. Silvestre Reyes of Texas.

[Completing the delegation, but not present at today's press conference, are: Secretary of the Congressional Black Caucus Yvette D. Clarke of New York; Rep. Al Green of Texas; Immigration Subcommittee Ranking Democrat Zoe Lofgren of California; and Rep. Grace Napolitano of California.]

Details of the planned trip on Monday November 21, including the hearing in the Birmingham City Council Chambers and an evening event at the historic 16th Street Baptist Church, can be found on Rep. Gutierrez' website.

The following are the remarks of Congressman Gutierrez at today's press conference:

Rep. Luis V. Gutierrez Opening Statement as Prepared for Delivery:

As you know, a group of nine Members of Congress is traveling to Birmingham, Alabama for a series of events on Monday.

We will hold an Ad Hoc hearing at 3 p.m. in the chambers of the Birmingham City Council to hear from residents.  While some of the details are still coming together, we will have a range of people offer their testimony: local elected leaders and law-enforcement, families, educators, farmers, and small business owners and the like.

We want a range of people who fit into categories including those who were the intended targets of Alabama's law, but we also want to hear from and those who have proven to be targets, perhaps unintentionally, as the law has begun to be implemented.

After the hearing we will meet with leaders of the immigrant advocacy and civil rights community in Birmingham and across the state at a private meeting at the Civil Rights Institute.

Then we will walk across the street to the historic 16th Street Baptist Church -- the church where four little girls were killed by an assassin's bomb -- and at 7 p.m. there will be a huge rally that marks the kick off of the "One Alabama" statewide campaign to repeal the law.

I was in Alabama in October and I came back to Washington and said to my colleagues, "you have got to go and see for yourself."  In other states we have seen anti-immigration bills pass, but in Alabama it has triggered something unique.  The fear and chaos in a small, not very well established Latino and immigrant community has run deeper.  The feeling of danger and despair is palpable, perhaps owing to Alabama's history of dogs and water cannons and bombings and worse.

But that same history also gave me a great deal of hope.  All across the state I met people at rallies, at the NAACP state convention, at the Spanish language radio station, and I got a sense that the history of fighting for justice and fighting for basic rights is still alive in Alabama.

Indeed, a lot of what we know about social movements, about social change and fighting for justice, we learned from the people of Alabama less than a generation ago.

We are seeing what happens when Congress is prevented from passing immigration reform for a decade or two decades.  We see the reaction on the ground to an immigration system that is a quarter century out of date.

Ironically, the Republican Party in Alabama that pushed this law through is the same Republican Party that has actively blocked immigration reform in Washington.  And those few Republicans with whom I and Senator Kennedy and others worked with across the aisle have all drifted away from the negotiating table.

In particular, Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama, in his role on the Judiciary Committee, has played a substantial role in obstructing immigration reform along with a handful of Southern Republican Senators.

In order to get control of immigration, we need to strengthen legal immigration and make sure enforcement is both firm and fair.

In order to get control over immigration we have to get immigrants who live and work here into the system and on-the-books because we simply will not deport of drive out 10 million people who have deep roots, family, property, and lives here.

But Republicans, often led by *Senator Sessions of Alabama, have prevented us from moving from the current chaos and blackmarket to a modern, efficient and legal immigration system because they think immigration is a good political football.

Perhaps more so than anyone going on this trip, I have been critical of the President because of the one million people he has deported, but I am pleased that the Justice Department is fighting against unconstitutional laws in Alabama, Arizona, South Carolina and elsewhere.  We simply cannot have 50 separate immigration laws and the Constitution is clear about that.

We will hold President Obama and Secretary Napolitano accountable for sticking to the federal policies they laid out that put a priority on deporting criminals so we can get bad people out of our communities.  That means standing up to and not cooperating with the state policies that create broad roundups based on appearance or make it a crime to work or take your children to the library.

Anti-immigration laws at the state and local level come with tremendous costs…

-- in terms of the slowed economy, businesses that fail and millions of tax dollars paid to lawyers to defend against lawsuits.

-- in political terms, these laws have changed the way America thinks about Arizona and Alabama and whether they are modern states or backward-looking ones.

-- and at the local level -- from family to family, business to business, and town to town, the divisiveness of playing politics with such an important issue carries a huge cost to the very fabric of a community.

There is a very high moral cost. 

I am going to Alabama to stand with the good, decent people of Alabama to fight back and defend what I think is right and just.

*GOP Showdown With Justice Department Over Immigration 

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Governor Bentley "Fires Back" at NY Times Article on Alabama's 'ALEC Styled' Anti-Immigration Law

Updated 11/17
Alabama Governor Robert Bentley sat for an interview with Fox News Channel's Megyn Kelley this afternoon to respond to a November 13th NYT article about Alabama's HB 56 passed into law earlier this year. Alabama's law was modeled after Arizona's anti-immigrant law and the same xenophobic mindset was present in both state's laws from the shadowy group called ALEC.

The Fox News interview with Kelley revealed that Decatur Utilities has been cutting off electric, gas, water and sewer service to immigrant families under the guise of following HB 56. Huntsville Utilities is set to follow suit:

The human toll of the policy could be devastating, said Stephen Stetson, a policy analyst for Alabama Arise. He heard about DU’s policy Saturday while listening to a radio station playing Christmas music.
“I’m listening to these songs about charity and compassion,” Stetson said. “It struck me as a cruel and ironic policy as we head into the coldest months of the year.”

The governor feigned ignorance of that fact (the story came out 6 days ago) and repeated over and over that HB 56 "is not racist." He goes on to say that "if the federal government would do their job we wouldn't have to pass these kinds of bills."

It's compelling to note that Governor Bentley considers himself a man of God. He's bragged about being a deacon in his church and labels himself one of the compassionate Christians the state GOP party defines itself by. If the law, as he claims is not racist (debatable), then at the very least it is completely heartless, an economic disaster and utterly devoid of compassion:

“People who have their power cut off are going to be among the most disadvantaged,” he said. “It’s kicking them when they are down.”
He worried about the health ramifications of the policy and the impact it would have on immigrants’ ability to care for their children, many of whom are U.S. citizens.

“Opponents of the law see it as self-evident that the element of human tragedy is a sign the law is defective. They need to remember the law’s supporters see it differently,” Stetson said. “It’s designed to make life more difficult. By destroying households and families, it’s doing that.”

The highly controversial (and equally religious) main sponsor of HB 56, Senator Scott Beason, lost his committee position earlier today according to a press release put out this morning by Senate President Pro Tempore Del Marsh-R. Beason was given the opportunity to resign his post and he refused to do so resulting in the Senate Committee on Assignments ousting him from his powerful position.

Beason's replacement, Senator Jabo Waggoner-R, is another story of corruption out and corruption in that we''ll cover soon. In the meantime, the passage of HB 56 is widely viewed as the harshest anti-immigration bill in the country, and we believe Governor Bentley didn't do the state's tarnished image any luster by signing it.

In the following interview, Bentley comes across as meek and unable to intelligently articulate a credible argument for what he did when he signed that law. It is a law that was straight out of the ALEC legislative handbook. Kansas Republican Kris Kobach conceived Alabama's law in a turkey blind in Kansas before handing it off to Senator Beason.

Kobach (and ALEC) were also the forces behind Arizon'a anti-immigration law and many of the voter ID laws across America:

Kansas Republican Kris Kobach, who along with ALEC itself helped draft Arizona’s anti-immigration law, has warned of “illegally registered aliens.” ALEC’s magazine, Inside ALEC, featured a cover story titled “Preventing Election Fraud” following Obama’s election. Shortly afterward, in the summer of 2009, the Public Safety and Elections Task Force adopted voter ID model legislation. And when midterm elections put Republicans in charge of both chambers of the legislature in twenty-six states (up from fifteen), GOP legislators began moving bills resembling ALEC’s model.

*Update: (Kris Kobach is helping to "coordinate the state's legal strategy" for defending HB 56 and is accusing the DOJ of "overplaying it's hand" by demanding enrollment records to see how Alabama HB 56 has affected schoolchildren. Our question is: Who's paying Mr. Kobach and from what fund source?)

Where are we going in Alabama Governor Bentley and who (and what) is leading the way? Upright elected officials of high character and ethics, or men (and women) who are following the orders of the ever elusive ALEC organization? We're continuing to ask the question your office refuses to answer: Are you a member of ALEC?

It's not a tough question. Why won't your office answer it?

The same question to you, Senator Waggoner, now the head of legislation in the state legislature, are you still a member of ALEC, and how will that affect your positions on what legislation comes up and passes into law?

Alabamians deserve some transparency and answers to what the "new republicans" agenda is based in. Governor, you promised the citizens of this state "complete transparency" from your administration and that you would "not be beholden to lobbyists or special interests" during your 2010 gubernatorial campaign:

"The people of Alabama deserve a Governor who is responsive to the needs of all the people, not just the well connected.
....ensure complete transparency in the efforts of special interests to influence public policy so that voters can decide whether their representatives are serving their needs, or the needs of campaign benefactors.
I have never been, nor will I ever be, beholden to lobbyists or special interests;
I will make our state's government one of the most transparent in the country by creating a strong executive branch code of ethics for myself, all cabinet officials, and our staffs."

We believe it's time for you to stand and deliver on those promises you made to Alabamians when you stumped for our vote. From your actions in office so far, what we're seeing is you are willing to tell us what you think we want to hear, meanwhile, you're going along with ALEC's agenda and believing that no one will catch on to who you really serve.

Matthew 7:16--By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?

The jigs up Dr. Dr. Bentley. Consider yourself caught and "ALEC Exposed."

*Update 11/17: Bloomberg Business Names Alabama's Biggest Loser

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In the Company of Scoundrels

Grover Norquist and the felonious Jack Abramoff

"Abramoff would have had no value without Norquist," said J. Michael Waller, a scholar at the Institute of World Politics who followed the two men at College Republicans. "Norquist was the pivot, he had the speaker of the House as his friend, all the new leadership, all the visionaries for more than a decade."

Abramoff was convicted of fraud and tax evasion in 2006. He was recently released from prison and now he's busy hawking his new book "Capital Punishment" with includes four pages of fodder pertaining to Alabama, Indian gaming money and influence buying  His long-time friend and money funneler, Grover Norquist, emerged miraculously unscathed from Abramoff's scandalous criminal enterprise and is "living well."

Grover is continuing to wreak havoc on America's political process while earning himself a fat stipend in the process. He's still up to his old tricks that he learned from his galloping days with Abramoff, and hasn't changed his political stripes one bit--even though he really deserves stripes of the black and white hue furnished by the federal penal system.

He's a scoundrel, a mighty mouse motormouth who deceives sheeple voters, conservative groups and willing politicians with red-hot anti-government rhetoric he's paid to deliver by the biggest special interests around: the Koch Brothers. In the republican world 'special interest' is a dirty word, a scourge to be rooted out and banished from existence before it "destroys America"--unless it's on the 'right' side of the equation.

Norquist plays that fiddle with all the dexterity of Nero inciting the right wing masses to dance in rapturous approval oblivious to the fact that real democracy is burning:

Today, GOP politicians who have signed Norquist's anti-tax pledge include every top Republican running for president, 13 governors, 1,300 state lawmakers, 40 of the 47 Republicans in the Senate, and 236 of the 242 Republicans in the House. What's more, the GOP's Tea Party foot soldiers are marshaled by House Majority Leader Eric Cantor – a veteran of Norquist's farm team, who first signed the pledge as an ambitious member of the Virginia legislature. Under Cantor's leadership, Norquist's anti-tax pledge was directly responsible for last summer's debt-ceiling standoff that wrecked the nation's credit rating by leading the nation to the brink of default. "Congress was willing to cause severe economic damage to the entire population," marvels Paul O'Neill, Bush's former Treasury secretary, "simply because they were slaves to an idiot's idea of how the world works."

Grover's undue influence has managed to rope-a-dope numerous Alabama politicians into signing his infamous pledge--a pledge that demands allegiance to Norquist first, and the respective office of the promised politician last.

Some conservative outlets recognize a street fighting omnipotent thug when they see one as Joseph Farah wrote for the ultra-conservative website World Net Daily in October of 2011:

Grover Norquist represents a grave danger to the conservative movement – and thus to the future of America. In my view, if America is to be saved from the gruesome fate of its current projector, the conservative movement will need to play a major corrective role. I simply don't see how that is possible when it is compromised, infiltrated and misdirected by people like Grover Norquist who are covertly promoting an agenda that is not only unconservative but, frankly, un-American.

Alabama doesn't get it and some of our political leaders made a deal with devil by signing Norquist's pledge despite what's known about him. Farah continues:

Over many years, he has carefully constructed a power base for himself inside the movement through relationships, favors, money, introductions. His official resume looks strong. And few of those he has worked with over the years are prepared to defy him, question his funding, investigate his friendships or connect the dots of his many and varied and sometimes seemingly contradictory alliances.

The GOP party in Alabama proudly places a high priority on morals, ethics, religion and keeping the right kind of company, lest they be judged by socializing with unsavory sorts who may tarnish their carefully polished public images. Ironically, those carefully crafted images are being peeled back through Abramoff's confessions and the Norquist element, revealing the gigantic hypocrisy within their party and what really happened in Alabama:

Abramoff's book does not detail how the $20 million was spent in Alabama over the course of five years. Part of his crimes included overcharging his clients and pocketing the extra money.
Abramoff said he "war-gamed" the Alabama strategy with his partner Michael Scanlon, who also pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 20 months in prison.
Abramoff wrote that conservative activist Ralph Reed, whom he enlisted to help on the Alabama anti-gambling campaign, didn't want his "co-religionists" to know the operation was financed with gambling money.

The way in for Abramoff's scheme was to rapture the religious right and the Christian Coalition's Ralph Reed was the go to guy to pull that maneuver off successfully:

"It was obvious to me that the only way to stop Siegelman, MacGregor (sic) and the Poarch Creeks was to organize the Christians," Abramoff wrote. "Ralph could do this in his sleep."
"Our efforts for the Choctaw in Alabama were extensive and expensive, and included radio and television advertising," he wrote. "We organized scores of pastors and voters to lay siege to the statehouse and the governor's office." 

Former Alabama Governor Bob Riley (now a Washington lobbyist who's also "living well") was the brains behind anti-gambling in Alabama. Riley's connections to Abramoff's 'injun money' didn't dull the fool's gold shimmer of his own political legacy. Like Norquist, he walked away scot-free--a beneficiary of blind justice and the larger-than-life obvious corrupt behavior, deflected by "I didn't know" weak explanations:

The book does not mention the financial donations that Scanlon made to Republican groups and PACs that in turn made donations to Siegelman's anti-lottery Republican opponent, Bob Riley. Scanlon, who worked for Riley briefly in Congress in 1997, never made a direct personal donation to Riley. But Scanlon's public relations consulting firm gave more than $650,000 during that election cycle to four entities that contributed large sums to Riley's campaign. 

A half-sighted man in dark woods could have seen how unsavory that situation was. The corruption, payoffs and influence buying coupled with the complete disregard for ethics is revolting beyond the pale. Everyone involved with Abramoff is tainted. Not everyone involved with him is in jail. Or judged with the same standards the upright Christian soldiers apply to the democrats and any of their special interest groups.

This is why republicans are the epitome of hypocrisy and ridiculed for their many positions on policy matters--do as we say, not as we do. It's becoming increasingly clear to us that 'Christian' is rapidly gaining the notoriety usually associated with a four-letter word. The more the right makes excuses for, and turns a blind eye to, the systemic and pervasive corruption operating within their own ranks, the less credible they appear on anything.

So Say We The Opinion Board Of The Vincent Alabama Confidential 

*Abramoff interview with Lawrence O'Donnell 
Precursor to Abramoff book from 2009 "So Damn Much Money" 

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Circuit Court Rules Against Conecuh Woods Landfill Developers Motions

In a ruling filed October 25th, Conecuh County Circuit Judge Burt Smithhart handed the Town of Repton and their feisty Mayor, Terri Carter, a huge victory against the 5,100 acre landfill development planned for the area.

Opposition to the landfill has been fierce from the Mayor and a well-organized citizen group who can breathe a little easier for a few reasons now. The war is not over by a long shot, but this battle is squarely in the victory column for the citizens.

Not bad for a town whose population was only 261 in July of 2007. We should note that citizens report to us that Senator Richard Shelby and Balch & Bingham have been instrumental in aiding the citizen opposition group.

We're hopeful for once, in both of their careers, that these two very unexpected allies will remain on the right side of this issue, and not be up to any of their usual tricks that could spell big trouble for this small community.
ConecuhWoodsRuling10-25-2011

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Environmental and Human Rights Organizations In Alabama Form an Alliance On Pollution Issues

For Immediate Release  

October 3, 2011

Birmingham-Metro Chapter NAACP Presents Grand Town Hall Meeting on the Environment

Panelists Will Focus on Local Pollution Threats: Shepherd Bend Mine and “DeadlyDeception”

Birmingham – The Birmingham-Metro Chapter of the NAACP will present a Grand Town Hall Meeting and Public Forum about the Environment on Friday, October 14th from 7:00 to 8:15 PM.   

Panelists will focus on two local pollution threats: the Shepherd Bend Mine proposal across the river from Birmingham’s drinking water intake facility and the recent “Deadly Deception” controversy in the Collegeville area.  The free public event will take place at Glen Iris Elementary School 1115 11th Street South Birmingham, AL 35205. 

Panelists will include representatives from the Alabama Rivers Alliance, Birmingham Faith in Action, Black Warrior Riverkeeper, Cahaba Riverkeeper, Citizens Opposed to Strip Mining on the Black Warrior River, Coalition of Alabama Students for the Environment, Collegeville area residents, GASP, Green Initiative at UAB, University of Alabama Environmental Council, and University of Montevallo Environmental Club.

“We are honored that the Birmingham-Metro Chapter NAACP invited us to join these esteemed panelists,” said Charles Scribner, Executive Director of Black Warrior Riverkeeper.  “The Shepherd Bend Mine poses a unique threat to Birmingham’s drinking water.  This forum presents an exciting opportunity to increase public awareness about the proposed coal mine and the University of Alabama’s potential role in stopping it.”

Click here to view event flyer:

www.blackwarriorriver.org/pdf/EnvironmentTownHall10.14.11.pdf

Click here for more information about the Shepherd Bend Mine proposal:

www.blackwarriorriver.org/news/help-protect-birmingham-s-drinking-water.html

 

Black Warrior Riverkeeper (www.blackwarriorriver.org) is a citizen-based nonprofit organization whose mission is to protect and restore the Black Warrior River and its tributaries. A member of Waterkeeper Alliance, Black Warrior Riverkeeper won Alabama Environmental Council’s 2007 Conservation Organization of the Year and American Canoe Association’s 2008 Green Paddle Award. Nelson Brooke, Riverkeeper, won Alabama Rivers Alliance’s 2010 River Hero Award.  In 2011 the Black Warrior became one of America's Most Endangered Rivers. For more information, contact:  Charles Scribner, Executive Director, Black Warrior Riverkeeper: (205) 458-0095 or Rev. Anthony Johnson, Community Relations Director: Birmingham-Metro Chapter NAACP: (205) 541-9719

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Here We Go Again: State Embarassment # ----- (Too High To Count)

Sign of the times outside Montgomery, Alabama on I-65

*Updated October 5th
BAY MINETTE, Ala. -- A civil liberties group (ACLU) said Friday that an Alabama town should not start an alternative sentencing program that would give non-violent offenders a new choice: Go to jail, or go to church.

Translation according to Bay Minette: Attend one of our 56 county approved for your salvation churches or go to hell jail.

This might (emphasis added) be a good solution if the idea included any religious affiliation as a choice, but it doesn't, and we see it as an attempt to force a particular religious view on a 'captive' audience. A better option may have been community service or drug and alcohol rehabilitation programs for substance abusers.

There's just one problem with that according to Bay Minette Police Chief Michael Rowland: "There aren't no thirty-day drug rehabilitation programs." Who needs medically-based treatment programs when you have the Holy Ghost, right?

We acknowledge the intent of offering offenders a choice to attend a "north Baldwin County church for one year" may be borne in good intentions, but it's wrongheaded and feeds into the national perception of Alabama as a bible-thumping, judgmental and intolerant state that only accepts a fundamentalist Christian point of view to the exclusion of any other religions or even atheism.

We believe Bay Minette has adopted a stance that many outside of the south will view as a throwback to Alabama's past that never went away.

Harper Lee's legendary story "To Kill A Mockingbird" was the basis for an essay she wrote on the intolerance of Alabama during the 1930's and the rigid mindset of Christians in the small town of Maycomb, which was fictional in name only:

Religion was an important factor in the life of the town, with “foot washers”, on the way to buy supplies, going through the streets imposing their ideas and ideals on people. The beliefs about how one should live ones life leads to narrow minded bigotry.

Recall the Mack truck sized gaff by Governor Robert Bentley on his inauguration day that blew up in the media with all the fury of a Klan cross lighting and furthered the concept of 'same old Alabama':

''Now I will have to say that, if we don't have the same daddy, we're not brothers and sisters. So anybody here today who has not accepted Jesus Christ as their savior, I'm telling you, you're not my brother and you're not my sister, and I want to be your brother."

Alabama does not need anymore black eyes in the bad publicity department. The governor and state economic developers are pushing for foreign companies to come to the state and set up businesses to infuse our failing economy and help reverse high unemployment numbers. Bay Minette is not helping in that endeavor.

Proving to potential corporations that you are a "world class state" and firmly moving forward with the times is a big part of the attraction equation. Where does this archaic idea of 'church or hell jaill' fit into it?

What's next? Bringing back the chain gangs? Governor, what say you? On second thought, maybe you best not. That hasn't gone well in the past.

Church going is vitally important to the Alabama Governor. In fact, it might be, in his righteous minded view of things, what qualified him for the challenges of Alabama's highest public office:

"Listen, if you can be the Chairman of the Deacons for a large First Baptist Church that goes through a minister change and a music change you can do just about anything," Bentley said.

What will his response be to the bad press about Bay Minette's ROC program? Will he excuse it as 'the work of sinful liberals' who "don't understand the ways of the good folks of Alabama" or will he reel them back onto the plantation knowing they're putting him into a 'umm..governor about that..' position again?

That's the irony of this whole mess--foreign countries (and most of America) does not follow the pervasive fundamentalist Christian and Southern Baptist doctrine that accounts for the largest majority of believers in the state. We think Alabama needs to wise up and understand, like it or not, we're in the 21st century and the eyes of the world stage are watching what we do more than they think.

Especially when state officials have been jet-setting around globally, meeting big lobbyists on yachts, and proclamating grand promises (read: state income deleting tax breaks) of handing out incentives galore to entice foreign corporations to 'come on in.'

Bay Minette's local government backed ploy jeopardizes the states 'mission' by assuming no one will really notice 'whut we're doing down heah.' It got noticed alright. Big time.

What does Alabama assume foreign investors and business owners will think when they take notice of a community adopting positions, that for all intents and purposes, demands Christian repentance or burning in hell?

Or maybe this is a smoke-screen of sorts. A carefully crafted what they thought would be  positive PR message. Is Bay Minette really trying to save souls or is the true intention county money for politically connected economic developers? It won't be the first time Jesus was trotted out to pull a fast one over on the folks.

Whatever their real reason is, they stepped in it and there will be hell to pay for it.

So Say We The Opinion Board Of The Vincent Alabama Confidential 

 *Update--"Alabama town's church or jail now awaits Attorney General's opinion"
*photo credit: tumblr.com

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Colombia Reports--US Court Clears Former Paramilitaries to Testify Against Drummond Coal

The United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama ordered that the former paramilitaries alias "Bam Bam," "El tigre," "El samario," and Jesus Charris are to give testimony before representatives of the victims who claim that the multinational is responsible for the 600 murders.

Drummond allegedly ordered the assassination of rural dwellers who chose not to sell their land to make way for the company's railroad which transported carbon from the land-locked Cesar department to the Caribbean Sea.

Drummond is facing two lawsuits in the United States, one for the death of three trade unionists in 2002 and the other for the death of 18 rural dwellers in Cesar.

Read more here

Spanish speaking readers: Noticias Uno Colombia video report

Recent court filings against Drummond (C 2:09-cv-01041-RDP) indicate the legal team representing the company is being less than cooperative: exceeding production deadlines by months, pushing for a faster trial without the plaintiff's attorneys having all the needed evidence in hand, and blaming the other side for their own by design difficulties.

Depositions of the paramilitary witnesses against Drummond were set to proceed in September before the Colombian officials delayed. The next tentatively scheduled deposition dates, that must occur in Colombia, are in November 2011. Time is of the essence according to one of the plaintiff's lawyers in this sharply worded passage from the court records:

"It is simply not an option to wait a year or more for the letters rogatory process to advance when our key witnesses are being threatened, attacked and offered bribes to, in Duarte's (aka "Bam Bam") words, "Keep quiet about Drummond."

--Libardo Duarte was attacked in prison shortly after he made public statements to a television reporter about Drummond's relationship to the Colombian paramilitary unit AUC.

--"El tigre" has hidden his family away in Colombia after receiving repeated threats from would-be sympathizers of the AUC (and possibly Drummond) that they would "kill them all" if he testified against Drummond.

Details from the witnesses in the court documents describe events so evil and cold-blooded, we can't begin to fully describe it in detail at this time, but you can read it for yourself, and then decide what conclusions you may arrive to after viewing the recent activity in this case.

In our opinions, any further delay, particularly if it is a purposeful maneuver, to impede obtaining crucial testimony of these witnesses, who have first-hand knowledge about what really happened in Colombia, is a tactic of ominous intentions.

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The $7 Billion Dollar 'Plan' from Brent Buchanan of Public Strategy Associates, Ameri-Metro and Alabama Toll Facilties, Inc

*Updated 9/22

In a story that ran on September 20th, in north Alabama's Decatur Daily, Shah Mathias CEO of Ameri-Metro (AM) "working with a well-known Montgomery political consultant, Brent Buchanan" issued a press release for a "$7 billion dollar highway and rail project" connecting Orange Beach, Alabama to the Tennessee state line. The contract for the project was claimed to be "awarded by Alabama Toll Facilities, Inc. to an AM subsidiary, Global Transportation and Infrastructure, Inc."

Alabama Toll Facilities was granted rights to build the 300 mile road by the Alabama legislature through a Senate Joint Resolution-SJR56 signed by Governor Riley on June 15, 2007.

The news stories on AM's proposal are chock full of visions of grandeur that bear an uncanny resemblance to another similar April 2000 scheme from Alabama's past: Motivity, Inc.

That pie-in-sky-idea, exposed by the Mobile Press-Register's Connie Baggett, claimed to be capable of constructing a "multi-billion dollar transportation corridor connecting Chicago to the Alabama coast by toll road and high speed rail." Motivity assured officials they wouldn't require any money from state or federal sources and would "fund the project through bonds" and backing from "unnamed European investors."

Former Alabama Governor Siegleman went along with the idea initially, in addition to the legislature, who passed a resolution allowing private toll road companies to enter into projects with the state.

It turned out to be a "hazy dream" scheme.

To Alabama's credit, they did catch on to the ruse and Motivity, Inc. moved on to Tennessee where they left officials there "shaking their heads" about the "unusual consortium of little known-businesses" involved in a M3 superconductor plant they claimed they were near completion on in 2001.

Similar to the AM project, a small town LLC from Scotsboro, Alabama was involved by way of Motivity, Inc. Did Mr. Buchanan, AM and Jack Garrison, owner of Alabama Toll Faculties, Inc. come up with this brand-new-same-old shell game ploy on their own, or are they simply trying the same trick again with a different approach?

Jeff Amy, from the Press-Register, writes in a September 21 news story that "Alabama Toll Facilities secured a nonbinding state legislative resolution supporting the project in 2007" during the Riley administration.

Nothing about this project makes a lick of sense, but it has appearances of the smoke and mirrors moves that we would expect from Alabama governmental relations agencies like the Public Strategy Associates and its founding partner Mr. Buchanan.

Who is Alabama Toll Facilities, Inc.?

According to GuideStar, it's a small company run out of a house located in Hartselle, Alabama (see below pic) that hasn't got very much in the way of assets and capital according to the last three IRS filings under a 501 (c)(3) status:

2006

2007

2008

Where are the subsequent years filings for 2009 and 2010? How much money is being donated to this company and by whose authority are they able to "award a $7 billion dollar contract" to anyone? 

Mr. Garrison tried this ploy once before, according to a story in the Times Daily by Bernie Delinski from August 26,1993. Garrison was aided by then state Representative Johnny Mack Morrow-D Russellville in his push for a statewide toll road that would have "run from Huntsville to Mobile."

"The entire project is expected to create about 150,000 construction jobs, as well as 2,000-3,000 permanent jobs, Garrison said. "Imagine all the businesses springing up from this," he said.

It never materialized.

We wonder what Mr. Buchanan's take in all of this is. Alabama republicans are so desperate to adhere to their "handshake with Alabama" and privatize everything in sight that they often forget to exercise basic sound judgement in their zeal to rebuild the state economy. Buchanan's pedigree puts him smack in the center of the Alabama Republican machine according to LinkedIn:

Business Council of Alabama, Alabama Broadcasters Association, EMERGE Montgomery, Young Montgomerians' Business Club, Capital City Young Republicans, Alabama Council of Association Executives, Alabama Republican Party, State Lobbyists and Government Relations Professional Networking Group

This project could be one of those do anything to make the public think we're doing something right for unemployment and economic development despite red flags aplenty, but so far, most state officials are standing on the 'Who and what are you talking about?' platform.

If this proposal is on the up and up, then fine, be more transparent about it Buchanan and company. If it's not, and we suspect it isn't, then how do you explain your deep involvement? Since PSA considers itself a "top tier" organization of professionals one would think your "experienced professionals" would spend more time researching your clients and projects before becoming so intimately involved with their business proposals.

Considering who PSA has helped elect to public office in Alabama that may be a bit too much to hope for granted.

How do you gentlemen propose to acquire the vast amount of land the highway and rail lines would require? Eminent domain perhaps? That should float with all the buoyancy of a lead-filled balloon over the heads of the affected populace.

From where we sit, this has all the trappings of a scheme to fleece the people of Alabama (and probably federal taxpayers too) to the tune of billions. It looks more like the work of a flim-flam man in cahoots with an unusual emporium of shady characters than men with a clear vision of reality.

(to be continued as additional details emerge) 

So Say We The Opinion Board Of The Vincent Alabama Confidential

*Update 9/22--Ameri-Metro underfunded--CEO Mathias accused of child sex offenses in Pennsylvania
Toll Roads News--"300 mile $7B Alabama pike gets dream publicity--but is it a dream?"
9/26--Mobile PR's George Talbot's Political Skinny: "Buchanan distances himself from toll road builder" "Toll road a 'fantasy'

Editor’s note—we’ve received emails from someone representing themselves as Brent Buchanan who takes issue with our opinions on this scam project. Mr. Buchanan accuses us of “falsehoods” and requests that we “remove accusations about me from your blog” and stands behind his involvement as “just the guy who hit send” on the press release saying that "If the Ameri Metro project actually happens, good.  If not, it’s a good idea for the future that started a good conversation.”
We’re allowed an opinion on issues in the public’s interest Mr. Buchanan. Which part of the story did we get wrong exactly? The conversation was “good” for whom in your opinion?
The first email from the alleged Mr. Buchanan came in a@ 5:24 PM yesterday. One minute before that transmission, another email came in @ 5:23 PM with an attachment that contained a virus with a surveillance program embedded in the download. We didn’t open either and sent it on to our tech guru who discovered the issue. Are these two events connected? We’re not sure, but the timing is odd.
If Mr. Buchanan is so gung ho about the toll road fiasco and remains comfortable continuing his involvement with the shady group proposing this project, then perhaps he can go onto the comment boards in the newspapers and defend the idea. We don’t expect he’ll do that because the public, judging from the overwhelming comments declaring the whole idea one big scam, would have a field day with him.
In light of the new information emerging about Ameri Metro, perhaps the “Christ follower(s)” time would be better spent praying for the whole thing to just go away.
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Governor Bob Riley-- WKRG Interview September 2011

Former Governor Bob Riley just cannot resist telling us all how wonderful he is and milking his near death experience for all it's worth.

At the 19:55 mark he's asked about becoming the first Alabama governor in history to become a state lobbyist.

Contrast and compare his recent words with what Riley had to say in 2009 about the "special interests who have ruled over a rotten system for years." He's now among the ranks of those special interest players who incidentally, despite Riley's call for it, does not have to report any amounts he spends on legislators while lobbying for his own clients.

Well, they were Riley's rules passed in December 2010 weren't they?

If Mr. Riley violates any of his own rules, like he did with a PAC to PAC transfer in March of 2011, who's going to make certain he complies? Can we count on the Ethics Commission and the legislature to enforce the laws against the creator of them?

With praise like this coming from the Speaker of the House Mike Hubbard on Riley's new gig, the chances are slim to none:

Speaker Mike Hubbard, R-Auburn, leader of the state House of Representatives, said, "There has been no greater champion for education reform and economic development than Bob Riley, and I'm glad to know he'll continue to be an advocate for moving Alabama forward in those areas." 

The more things change the more they remain the same in Alabama politics--we just find different words to justify turning wrong then into still wrong now.

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