Alabama Lawmaker Urges Expansion of ‘Stand Your Ground’ Law to Churches

An Alabama state representative plans to reintroduce a bill this year that would add religious establishments to the state’s “Stand Your Ground Law”, which he said would allow those attending worship services and religious functions to legally defend themselves with guns against an attacker in churches, temples, and mosques. State Rep. Lynn Greer, a Republican, said he was reintroducing the Alabama Church Protection Act in response to a shooting at the West Freeway Church of Christ in Texas that happened in late December. “We’re modifying Stand Your Ground so it will pertain to churches and church events … It’ll give not only criminal but civil immunity … This pertains to all religions. It protects everybody,” Greer said. The bill would allow worshippers to use deadly force inside a religious building to defend themselves if they believe someone is about to harm those in attendance. Laws allowing people to “stand their ground” are more expansive self-defense laws that say people can use deadly force in response to a threat even if they could have retreated. The Alabama Church Protection Act will be on the ballot in November as a constitutional amendment in two counties, but Greer hopes to see it become statewide law before that happens. Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall issued a statement saying the bill is unnecessary. “The shooting at West Freeway Church of Christ in Texas was a sobering depiction of good vs. evil in our society today … Fortunately, Alabama can proudly say that it already offers [protection from prosecution for carrying a firearm in a church that allows it]. We urge every church in our state to adopt a church security plan that will better ensure the safety of their members during worship,” Marshall said. [AL.com; WBRC]

HATE CRIMES | New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced that the state will spend an additional $45 million trying to prevent hate crimes. The money will be used to strengthen security measures at community gathering places that may be targets of hate crimes, including day care centers, cultural museums, day camps, and non-public schools. The additional funding comes after a series ofanti-Semitic attacks, including an attack during a Hanukkah celebration in New York City that left five people wounded. "The recent rash of anti-Semitic and other hate-fueled attacks in New York and across the nation are understandably causing anxiety, but we will not be intimidated. In New York, we stand up to those who try to sow division and fear, and this new funding will provide religious and cultural institutions the support they need to help protect themselves and keep people safe,” Cuomo said. Members of the state’s Jewish community said they supported the announcement. "We as the Jewish community are standing together with top elected officials of the State and City of New York and thousands upon thousands of New Yorkers, Jews that have come from across this country and around the world to say, 'No Hate, No Fear,’” said Michael Miller, the CEO of the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York. [WBFO]

PUBLIC SERVICE | Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland announced a new program called the “Public Service Corps” that will pay young adults $12 per hour to pick up litter around the city. The program is open to people aged 16 to 24 who are pursuing a high school diploma, associate’s degree, or trade school certificate, as well as those who have recently been released from prison or jail. Strickland said the program will be a boost to the estimated 120,000 people in Memphis who lack a high school diploma. "Our young people are not a lost cause. Our young people are our most precious asset. If we want the decade to be one of promise and opportunity, we must reach out to those who are isolated or disconnected from opportunity,” he said. The program is set to begin with 25 members and expand to several hundred by 2022. [Commercial Appeal; WREG]

HOMELESSNESS | Protestors in Salt Lake City are demanding that the city government create more resources for homeless people and stop ticketing people for camping in public spaces. Protestors are asking the city to build a new homeless shelter downtown after rumors circulated the shelter beds were full and homeless people were being turned away on cold nights. Christina Davis, a spokeswoman with the Utah Department of Workforce Services, said that there are beds available in resource centers on most nights. “There are a few nights that we’ve seen that the resource centers are essentially full, so that a person might not be able to get in when they want to, and so then the overflow and the warming center are available for those people then,” she said. The group behind the protests, the Take Shelter Coalition, said that they “call the shelters on a regular basis asking if they have room for our unsheltered neighbors. Every time, the shelters tell us that there is either very little or no room at all.” Police arrested 17 demonstrators from the Take Shelter Coalition over the weekend for camping in a park after hours. [Salt Lake Tribune; KUTV]

CAMPAIGN FUNDS | The House Speaker of Maryland said she plans to introduce a bill that would ban family members from serving as campaign treasurers for legislative races in the state. The bill by Speaker Adrienne Jones comes in response to former state legislator Tawanna Gaines pleading guilty to wire fraud after using more than $22,000 of campaign money for personal expenses. Gaines’ daughter had been her campaign treasurer. Gaines now faces a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, and her plea agreement requires her to pay back at least $22,565. [FOX Baltimore]