SPLC files ethics complaint against Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore

  The Southern Poverty Law Center filed a judicial ethics complaint Wednesday against Alabama

Roy Moore

Chief Justice Roy Moore over his public statements urging the governor and Alabama judges to defy federal law and enforce Alabama’s ban on same-sex marriages.

  The complaint was filed with the Judicial Inquiry Commission of Alabama, which could recommend that Moore face ethics charges in the Alabama Court of the Judiciary. That court removed Moore from the office of chief justice 12 years ago after he refused to comply with a federal court order to remove a Ten Commandments monument from the state judicial building.

Michael Josephson: Cheating in the NFL – to care or not to care, that is the question

  So, are you worked up about the boiling controversy over under-inflated footballs? Do you care that there seems to be cheating in the NFL. Big deal or trivial? It’s all is a matter of perspective.

  For example, several months ago ago, it was confirmed that the U.S., in the pursuit of terrorist information, has and probably still does engage in what most people regard as torture (though its disguised by the euphemism “enhanced interrogation.”). What’s more, the majority of Americans support this. This, it would seem is a momentous moral issue yet almost all the discussion focused not on whether this sort of behavior is right and whether it is consistent with our national self-image as the good guys, but the pragmatic question: did it work?

Charles C. Haynes: Duke, Muslims and the politics of intimidation

  What began as a gesture of interfaith hospitality ended badly last week when Duke University suddenly cancelled plans to begin broadcasting the Muslim call to prayer from the bell tower of Duke Chapel every Friday afternoon.

  The first “call to prayer” was scheduled for January 16 – which, as it happens, was also Religious Freedom Day in America.

Joseph O. Patton: Give 'em hell, Patricia Todd!

  “I never did give them hell. I just told the truth, and they thought it was hell." -Harry S. Truman

  This week Alabama Representative Patricia Todd (District 54) threw down a gauntlet the size of the Statehouse. Fed up with the hypocrisy, the bullying and the outright lack of humanity from her colleagues, she threatened to out state officials who are engaging in or have engaged in extramarital affairs.

  Todd's righteous anger bubbled over as a result of the venomous, bigoted outcry from top Alabama politicians in response to U.S. District Judge Callie Granade's ruling which struck down Alabama's despicably discriminatory Marriage Protection Act and its related Alabama Constitutional Amendment.

Steve Flowers: Inside the Statehouse: Caught in a perpetual budget crunch

  The most pressing problem facing the governor and legislature as they enter this new quadrennium is the financial shortfall in the General Fund Budget.

  Last year the governor floated a trial balloon to see if there was any traction to combine the two state budgets in order to give more wiggle room in the budgeting of limited state dollars. It was quickly shot down.

Joseph O. Patton: Montgomery should pass on Artur Davis

  Just when I foolishly believed I had washed the foul political aftertaste of Artur Davis out of my mouth, he's uncorking another bottle of his trademark bitterness, shameless opportunism and ego-tripping.

  Last week he announced he's running for mayor of Montgomery, challenging incumbent Todd Strange who announced his reelection bid the same day. But which version of Artur Davis this happens to be would be anyone's guess, though....

Decision overturning Alabama’s same-sex marriage ban a victory for families, children of same-sex couples

  A federal judge’s ruling striking down Alabama’s same-sex marriage ban as unconstitutional will provide greater stability to the lives of same-sex couples and their children, but more work remains to eliminate anti-LGBT discrimination in the state, the Southern Poverty Law Center announced yesterday.

  The judge in Mobile, Alabama, issued the ruling Friday in a case brought by two women seeking to have their marriage from California recognized. Cari Searcy and Kim McKeand needed the recognition so that both women could be recognized as legal parents of the child they conceived with the help of a sperm donor.

James Phillips: ISIS vs. Al Qaeda: The good news and the bad news

  The Islamic State, formerly known as ISIS (the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria), has become a bitter rival of Al Qaeda, its parent organization. Its leaders represent a new generation of Islamist militants who have broken with Al Qaeda in a power struggle over Syria and the future of the global Islamist revolution.

  Both groups share the same ultimate goal: the establishment of a global caliphate, to be ruled under a harsh brand of sharia (Islamic law). But they clash over what strategy and tactics are best, as well as who should lead the global jihad (holy war) to build the caliphate.

Hank Sanders: Senate Sketches #1441: Praying that the Promised Land is still ahead

  “I just want to do God’s will. He’s allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I’ve looked over. And I’ve seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you, but I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the Promised Land.” These are the prophetic words from the last speech Dr. Martin Luther King uttered in Memphis on April 3, 1968. He was shot down the very next day.

  There is no doubt in my mind Dr. King knew that death was very imminent; that he knew he was going to die in the next few days. It was in his words. It was in his spirit. We can feel it when we listen to that last speech. We can see it in his face and body language.

Charles C. Haynes: For religious freedom and LGBT rights, a year of decision

  The New Year begins much like the old year ended with bitter, emotional clashes between proponents of LGBT rights and religious objectors to same-sex marriage.

  When same-sex weddings commenced in Florida on January 6, several county clerks immediately announced that although required by law to issue marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples, they will no longer perform marriages for anyone – gay or straight – to avoid participating in same-sex ceremonies.