Legislation in Alabama

From Standdown blog :

Legislation in Alabama

AL.com carries the AP dispatch, "Alabama senator to try death penalty moratorium for 8th time." The legislator is Senator Hank Sanders.

The Selma Democrat announced Tuesday that when the Legislature convenes Feb. 5, he will again sponsor legislation to place a three-year moratorium on executions in Alabama.

Legislative records show Sanders has been introducing the moratorium bill annually since at least 2001, but it has never been approved by the Senate, much less the House.

Sanders was joined at a windy outdoor news conference Tuesday by supporters of his bill. Judy Cumbee, first vice president of the Alabama New South Coalition, said the wind was symbolic.

"These are winds of change," she said as she brushed her hair out of her face.

Cumbee, Sanders and others said there is growing concern in Alabama about the fairness of the death penalty, and that is causing more people to support a moratorium while officials look at how the law is administered.

And:

Sanders' moratorium bill would do more than impose a three-year ban. It would also require changes in the way attorneys are appointed to represent indigent clients and would implement U.S. Supreme Court rulings against executing anyone who was mentally retarded or under 18 years old when their crime occurred.

The Anniston Star carries, "Alabama's legislative session: Our delegations priorities." State Representative Randy Wood (R-Anniston) announced that he will sponsor what appears to be a bill allowing th edeath penalty for non-homicidal child rape.

A second bill will give judges and district attorneys the option of seeking the death penalty in severe sexual-abuse cases involving children. It is a proven fact that sexual predators cannot be rehabilitated.

Similar legislation failed in last year's Alabama legislative session.