Alabama Representative Ed Henry (R-Hartselle) has filed a lawsuit against the Alabama Attorney General’s office calling for the release of his 2014 grand jury testimony regarding the corruption case involving Speaker of the House Mike Hubbard. Henry claims that his testimony would reveal facts to light surrounding the anti-corruption unit that Luther Strange established as Attorney General.
Henry said that upon giving his testimony in front of the grand jury, officials from the Attorney General’s office warned him that if he released any part of his testimony, he could be charged with a felony under Alabama’s grand jury secrecy laws. Henry argues that these “archaic” secrecy laws have been declared illegal by the United States Supreme Court and are simply being used to strong-arm him into remaining silent.
William White of the Birmingham-based Parkman White Law Firm filed the suit on Henry’s behalf. At their press conference broadcast on Facebook Live yesterday, White said the A.G.’s office has used the state’s secrecy laws to infringe on Henry’s constitutional rights. “At the core of it, what we’re talking about is Alabama’s attorney general’s office threatening Representative Henry with felony criminal prosecution for his first amendment right to free speech.”
White argues that grand jury secrecy laws such as Alabama’s were declared unenforceable in 1999 by the Supreme Court. In that case, the court ruled that secrecy laws cannot be applied to witnesses after the grand jury has ended. Therefore, Henry is no longer subject to the secrecy laws that the state continues to hold over his head and should be free to release his testimony.
White said they are not only seeking legal remedy and the release of the grand jury testimony, but that they will also seek reform to the secrecy law during the next legislative session.
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