7 Things: Ivey ready to fight to keep releasing prisoners, State Superintendent Mackey supports ‘parent’s rights’ bill, and more …

7. LGBTQ+ AL

• The Southwest Alabama Inclusion Project, spearheaded by Prism United, The University of South Alabama and 30 additional organizations, aims to survey the needs of the LGBTQ+ community in Southwest AL and to see how they are impacted by “community experiences.”
• The Human Rights Campaign’s (HRC) annual Municipal Equality Index results show that Birmingham scored a perfect 100% while Mobile, Huntsville, and Montgomery tragically scored 40 and under. Strangely, a survey showed that the largest population of LGBTQ+ people in the U.S. lives in the South, so activists are starting to increase their efforts to change laws and policies in Alabama and other states. 

6. Who asked for this?

• Nikki Haley served for two terms in the South Carolina House of Representatives and then became the youngest governor in U.S. history at age 38. She was reelected and served until Pres. Trump nominated her as the Ambassador to the UN. Now she is running for President, even though recent polls show her tied for 3rd with former Vice President Mike Pence (6%) against President Donald Trump (42%) and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (36%). The same poll shows Michael Jordan as the “best” basketball player of all time over LeBron James 58-15.
• Haley released a highly pro-American video saying, “Some look at our past as evidence that America’s founding principles are bad; they say the promise of freedom is just made-up… Some think our ideas are not just wrong, but racist and evil. Nothing could be further from the truth… When a woman tells you about watching soldiers throw her baby into a fire, it puts things into perspective. Even on our worst day, we are blessed to live in America.”

5. Youth mental health crises spike, especially in female adolescents 

• The CDC’s bi-annual Youth Risk Behavior Survey found that among 17,000 students across the U.S. 40% felt feelings of debilitating hopelessness and sadness. They reported, “most teen girls (57%) felt persistently sad or hopeless in 2021, double the rate for teen boys (29%). Nearly one in three teen girls seriously considered attempting suicide. Both rates ‘increased dramatically’ over the past decade.”
• Theories vary, with many blaming the pandemic and social media, while conservatives cite the breakdown of the nuclear family and the diminishment of a religious foundation. The CDC survey also indicated that “nearly one in five teen girls (18%) had experienced sexual violence in the past year and about one in seven (14%) had been forced to have sex,” which may be one reason why female adolescents, in particular, are suffering.

4. Students rally against taxes

• The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and protesting students are working together to block a tax vote which would bring more funds and improvements to the school district. At issue are concerns over Black History Month programming and other issues. 
• In Tuscaloosa, Hillcrest High School students staged a protest during school hours, claiming that an unnamed administrator prevented Black History Month curriculum from teaching about figures before 1970. They also condemned alleged discrimination by the all-white administration at a school that contains over 50% black students. They say they’re punished unjustly, disrespected, and told to give up on academics, even when their behavior is similar to that of white students.

3. Inflation is up over 6.4%, media is celebrating

• Inflation up 0.5% in January, an increase of 6.4% since Jan 2022. The latest increase was announced just one week after Biden’s State of the Union speech claiming that “inflation is coming down”. He blamed inflation on the pandemic and Russia’s war, saying it’s a global problem, rather than a U.S. problem. The celebrating media happy over “falling” inflation is odd.
• Housing, food, transportation, and utilities saw the greatest increases in price according to the consumer price index. In a Gallup survey, 50% of consumers said they are “worse off financially” than they were a year ago, while only 35% said they felt better off. Only during the Great Depression and the 2008 recession did 50% of consumers say they were worse off. 

2. Parents’ Rights Bill has support in education

• State Representative Kenneth Paschal (R-Pelham) has filed a parents’ rights bill that would limit what government can do to a child against the wishes of the parents. Paschal’s bill says the government can not “burden the fundamental right of a parent to direct the upbringing, education, care, and custody of his or her child.” The government may intervene if there is a “compelling state interest” or if the parent is “unfit,” and if “the government uses the least restrictive means possible to further that interest.”
• Similar bills have been filed in 35 other states following the Supreme Courts’ ruling on parental rights. Opponents of the bill claim that such a bill would micromanage teachers, impede parents of transgender children, and create a hostile environment for school officials if parents can object to content for any reason. But Alabama State Superintendent Eric Mackey says he supports the bill and added, “it makes it clear that we do believe parents have a right to direct their child’s education”.

1. Ivey leading charge to keep releasing criminals

• A schism between Alabama Republicans is forming with Governor Kay Ivey supporting the early release of criminals while other want the policy stopped. State Sen. Chris Elliott (R-Josephine) has introduced bill SB7, cosponsored by State Sen. Gerald Allen (R-Tuscaloosa), which would push back Alabama’s mandatory release date for inmates to 2030. They say the law passed in 2021, which allows for the release of felons before their sentence is complete, does not prioritize the safety of Alabamians.
• Ivey’s office says that this plan is working and wants it to continue, stating, “We are for supervision of inmates before the end of their sentences,” under the Alabama Bureau of Pardons and Paroles. They also claimed, “[t]hose who oppose this measure are for the unfettered release of criminals,” implying the current path will force a judge to let more prisoners out.