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7 Things: Biden to get SCOTUS pick, teachers bail on Birmingham schools and more …

7. Zeigler now running for Secretary of State

  • After announcing that he wouldn’t run for governor, State Auditor Jim Zeigler has decided to seek a different public office. Instead, Zeigler will be running for Alabama Secretary of State. It’s expected that he will qualify to run today at 11:00 a.m.
  • Zeigler announced his candidacy by saying the position “will be vital over the next eight years.” He added, “The Secretary is our top election administrator. We face national attempts to manipulate honest election procedures. Alabama needs a proven fighter against government overreach to be our fighting Secretary of State.”

6. Ainsworth calls for audit of Brookside Police Department

  • The town of Brookside has gained attention from Lieutenant Governor Will Ainsworth due to the policing that has happened in the area. Ainsworth has requested an audit of the police department, writing to chief examiner of Public Accounts Rachel Riddle that he’s “extremely concerned about the circumstances that have recently been publicized” about the department.
  • Ainsworth requested an investigation into “their police department, municipal court, general and departmental funds.” This request comes after reports showed that Brookside had a more than 600% increase in traffic fines in a two-year period. Also, about half of Brookside’s budget in 2020 was from fines and forfeitures. Ainsworth added, “[W]e’re looking at what we can do from a legislative standpoint…there’s a long road ahead to make sure we solve that problem.”

5. It’s all in Russia’s hands now

  • The United States has responded to demands made by Russia in December in a written response, according to Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Blinken said that the specifics wouldn’t be released since they “think that diplomacy has the best chance to succeed if we provide space for confidential talks.”
  • Blinken also advised that further diplomacy is in Russia’s hands. In the document, it’s made clear that a priority is “Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and the right of states to choose their own security arrangements and alliances.”

4. Carl is preparing to run against Moore

  • With the outstanding order from federal judges to redraw district lines, the first and second congressional districts in South Alabama could be in jeopardy of being combined. U.S. Representative Jerry Carl (R-Mobile) said that he’s already preparing to run for reelection against U.S. Representative Barry Moore (R-Enterprise).
  • Carl said they’re “changing our strategy, our campaign strategy.” He added, “We’re actually moving around, getting some stuff realigned just in case our lines do get redrawn, and we have to run against probably Barry Moore…it is what it is if we have to run against one another.”

3. Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall says pump the brakes

  • After federal judges ordered that Alabama redraw district lines, Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall said that the Voting Rights Act was misinterpreted by the panel of judges. Marshall has filed an emergency motion to block the order.
  • The motion was also signed by the Solicitor General Edmund LaCour, which said that it was “an erroneous interpretation of the Voting Rights Act (at best) and an unconstitutional application of the Voting Rights Act (at worst),” arguing that the interpretation makes the main issue in drawing district lines race.

2. As schools try to reopen, teachers are staging sickouts

  • In the Birmingham City School System, 144 teachers are absent due to the coronavirus, but over 200 are reportedly absent for “some other reason,” which for some is a “sickout.” Birmingham schools started the week remote but were returning to in-person learning Wednesday.
  • With too few teachers at work Wednesday, Carver High School placed students in the gymnasium all day. Officials sent out a letter asking “that certified district team members support schools” and “selected” individuals “to serve at an assigned school” to fill in where teachers were absent. President of the Birmingham AFT Richard Franklin said, “I’ve talked to 40 or 50 teachers who took a sick day today because they’re tired of being exposed to COVID. The sickout will not just be today.”

1. Breyer is likely to retire, Biden will get Supreme Court pick

  • U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer is expected to retire. It’s been rumored that the 83-year-old could seek retirement, but these are the first reports that he’ll be notifying the White House of his intentions. Breyer’s announcement was not made by him and comes after months of Democrats demanding he resign so Biden can have a nominee.
  • President Joe Biden would be given his first Supreme Court pick, and it’s anticipated that he would select a black female to the court. Breyer is a liberal justice, so Biden’s replacement would not alter the conservative majority of the court, which still stands at 6-3.

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