Letter to Roy Moore: Sir, you're NOT a cowboy.

Dear Roy Moore -

You, sir, are many things, but one thing you are not is a cowboy. You have no cowboy in you, unless you Brokeback’d it at a campfire when you were in Australia. I hear you claim to have been a cowboy Down Under. From watching you ride, sir, I say, “Bullshit.”

I, sir, am a cowboy, or more properly put, a "cowhand" and a "wrangler," and have been for more than 45 years. Like you, I’m also a lawyer, but, unlike you, I know how to sit a horse, rope a steer, fix a fence, pull a calf, and I’ve broken more than my share of horses. I celebrated my 50th birthday by riding a bareback bronc one last time and I’ve even ridden a bull – but only once cuz I’m not crazy.


For the record, sir, we cowboys take great offense at your pretense of being one of our breed, mainly because you’re giving us a bad name with your posing and your antics.

You prance around on stage with your lady’s purse gun and your Woody from “Toy Story” outfit and pretend you’re one of us. You ride to the polls each election on a horse as if you’re some mythical western hero. Sadly, many people don’t know better. Even more sadly, the media thinks you represent us. They think you represent us cowboys and they look down upon us because of you.

You don’t represent us, sir, because you are not one of us.

We cowboys have watched your charade, and it fills us with disgust for you and alarm for your poor horses.

You sit your saddle like a first-timer, like you’re sitting in a lounge chair. Your toes are pointed down in stirrups that are the wrong length. Your center of gravity is behind the horses’ momentum. You’re sitting on your tailbone, bouncing hard on your horses’ backs instead sitting lightly on your stride, allowing yourself to float on the horses’ backs without causing them pain.

In short, you’re breaking their backs. Your cheap fiberglass saddle is the wrong type for your horses and the saddle doesn’t fit your horses properly either, as your pommel is smack dab on the withers of your saddle sore mounts, and the bars of the saddles are too wide for their narrow backs. Real cowboys know how to fit a horse with a proper saddle. Oh, and that fiberglass saddle you're riding screams faker. A real cowboy uses a real, quality leather saddle which he will likely use his entire life and then pass on to his children.

You’re jerking on your poor horses’ mouths in near panic, and we notice your bit isn’t set right in the poor horses’ mouths. The bit is too loose and not set behind the canine teeth on the bars of the horses’ mouths, but in front of the canines. Who does that? Not a real cowboy.

You don’t ride with your legs and you jerk on the reins and your horses’ ears flatten back in pain and confusion. Any cowboy can see that your horses don’t like you and don’t trust you. We agree with your horses that you haven’t a clue as to what you’re doing.

We watched you ride away from the cameras on December 12, your reins uneven, your arms wide and flapping, your ass bouncing out of the saddle. Your horse breaks into a lope and we watched you totter one way, then the other, then grab leather with all your might to avoid falling off the horse in front of the media. Not a cowboy alive would have had a problem with that rocking chair lope your horse was doing, but you nearly lost your seat. 

Your cowboy costume is deplorable, sir, and we real cowboys see it for what it is – you’re playing dress up. You wear cheap wool felt cowboy hats bought at some discount store, and any real cowboy knows those hats are not worth buying or wearing. They break down quickly with weather, wear and tear and are a waste of time and money. Real cowboys know that only 100% beaver hats, which cost close to $1,000, are worth wearing because they last 30 to 40 years and no rain, wind, snow or searing sun can destroy them. There’s the old story of the tenderfoot who went out west wearing a cowboy hat and the cowboys he met all chuckled at his attire. The tenderfoot said, “Why are you laughing? I paid $100 for this hat!” The cowboys replied, “We can tell.”

We real cowboys know how to crease our hats, sir, as each cowboy has his own style. We buy our hats uncreased and crease them ourselves, or we buy a creased hat and we re-crease it.

You can tell a real cowboy because his hat looks “lived in.” Each time we wear our hats we know they change shape, further conforming to our heads from sweat and the occasional tugging of the brim when the wind kicks up. A real cowboy’s hat never blows off in the wind because it becomes like a second skin. Also, if we cowboy in the high winds of the Great Plains, where the "breeze" can be a constant 50 mph, we use a  braided rawhide stampede string, lest we lose our most prize possession. Rain and snow soften these indestructible hats and they change shape as they dry, taking on character and uniqueness that we prize. They get stained by sweat, dirt, manure, dust, and sand. The more weathered the hat, the more treasured it becomes.


You, sir, buy ‘em off the shelf and just wear ‘em at election time, which any cowboy knows is a joke. Your cheap black hat and your “Toy Story” white hat haven’t been worn enough to conform to your head, nor have the brims been altered by years of use. The white one, especially, is still in what we call “box shape,” a term which means it’s been in the box too long and it’s lost its symmetry. But you wouldn’t know that. Your hats are only props for your charade. It is blatantly obvious to us cowboys that your hats are stored in the box, unused until the media turns on the camera. A close look at your black shows dust all over it. Dust? Dust from your closet, where it's sat since the last election. Hence you look ridiculous to us real cowboys. 

Among us cowboys who carry guns, sir, your choice of weaponry is hysterical. None of us would be caught dead carrying a lady’s purse gun. You looked like a New York disco cowboy with your girlie gun, sir, and you sent a message to all of us real cowboys that you have no sand when it comes to a gun fight. We cowboys know our guns, and many of us have used them in war or law enforcement, and we know that your girlie gun has virtually no use in a firefight. It does, however, look good in your purse. Wait, didn’t you go to West Point and fight in Vietnam? Shouldn’t you know this?

Finally, sir, your behavior toward others disqualifies you as a cowboy. 

Cowboys don't brag and self-promote and we respect other people. We may not understand or agree with their politics, their religion, or understand their sexuality, but we don’t run our mouths criticizing those folks. We cowboys are taught to mind our own business, and respect our fellow man because, as the saying goes, “to understand a man you gotta walk in his moccasins.”  

You hate gays and think they should be criminalized. Just the other day I was talking to two real cowboys at a ranch. One of these cowboys was gay, a fact known to us all. When the gay cowboy left us, the other cowboy, who was shoeing a horse at the time and is a truly seasoned old hand, looked at me from underneath the horse and said, “I don’t get the gay thing, but that cowboy is top notch.” That’s how cowboys think. We don't care about anything other than are you a dependable person we can trust. Period. 

Lastly, real cowboys never disrespect women. Ever. We say, “yes, ma’am” and we don’t denigrate women. Not ever. We are even polite to women who’ve fallen into vice or drugs or drink. Further, we sure as hell wouldn’t try to argue that women shouldn’t be allowed to vote, hold political office or run a company. We were all raised by our mamas and we know who really ran the ranch house. It wasn’t daddy. Also, many ranches have women owners and managers and we sure as hell aren’t gonna argue with them about their qualifications.

We know too many cowgirls who’d use a real gun to shoot our nads off if we argued that women were in some way lesser than men. It’s just not the cowboy way.

So, Mr. Moore, whatever you do in the world of law and politics, and whether or not we support or don’t support your agenda, we cowboys sure wish you’d drop the pretend cowboy act and just wear a suit and tie, or, maybe switch to a Biblical or super hero costume.

Cause one thing we cowboys know for sure - you aren’t one of us, and we don’t want folks thinking you represent us.

This is why the rush to arrest and convict often results in a wrongful conviction.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/01/17/woman-whose-boyfriend-convicted-death-might-have-fatally-injured/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

Lying cop gets three years for perjury.

http://www.al.com/news/huntsville/index.ssf/2016/11/alabama_deputy_sentenced.html

CPI Calls on Candidates Clinton and Trump to Renounce ‘Victim Centered Investigations’ as an Affront to Justice

WASHINGTON / August 9, 2016 – Today the Center for Prosecutor Integrity (CPI) is calling on presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump to issue a call for the end of victim-centered investigations (VCI) in sexual assault cases.  Victim-centered investigations represent an biased approach to sexual assault investigations that openly favors the accuser and eliminates the presumption of innocence, the center charges.

Both the Democratic and Republican political platforms, approved last month, specifically call for fairness in handling criminal offenses. The Democratic platform highlights the need to “ensure a fair process for all on-campus disciplinary proceedings and in the criminal justice system.” 

The current regime of campus adjudications “contravenes our country’s legal traditions and must be halted,” according to the Republican platform, and “prevents the proper authorities from investigating and prosecuting sexual assault effectively with due process.” 

Victim-centered investigations emphasize the collection of evidence supportive of the complainant and discourage the collection of exculpatory evidence, thereby increasing the likelihood of a guilty verdict. Victim-centered investigations represent a departure from ethical standards of investigative impartiality, neutrality, and objectivity.

Proponents of victim-centered investigations openly urge investigators to “start by believing” and assume the complainant’s account is true until proven otherwise. As a result, justice is compromised and the potential for wrongful conviction increases, CPI believes.

In one case, a Virginia college student was arrested and jailed for six days based on an uncorroborated allegation of sexual assault. The student had never been to the city where the assault alleged took place and the accuser’s account contained numerous inconsistencies. The case was eventually dropped after the student produced over 40,000 emails and other documents that proved his innocence. The student was saddled with over $60,000 in legal fees to defend himself against an accusation that had no basis in reality.

CPI urges both presidential candidates to endorse a “justice centered” approach which protects due process, preserves the presumption of innocence, and utilizes an impartial evaluation of all evidence.  While complainants must be treated with respect and taken seriously, investigators must always remain impartial and follow the evidence.

The Center for Prosecutor Integrity works to enhance prosecutorial ethics, reduce over-criminalization, and end wrongful convictions. More information on victim centered investigations can be viewed at http://www.prosecutorintegrity.org/sa/investigations/  

(Required by Alabama Law: No representation is made that the quality of legal services is greater than other lawyers.)

Justice system under threat of mob-style "political correctness."

Contrary to what you often hear, the American justice system is not broken. Before you think that I'm an apologist for our courts, read on:

I often jokingly refer to myself as an “anarchist criminal defense lawyer.” I make this jest because unlike many lawyers who practice criminal law casually, I am an aggressive criminal defense lawyer and I use any tactic that is legal and ethical to win for my clients, no matter who I piss off.

I do this because the more aggressively the lawyer fights for his client, the more the justice system actually works. The legal system in the United States is designed to be an adversarial system – accent on the adversarial. The harder the attorneys fight, the more they use the rules of procedure, the more they exploit the “technicalities,” the more they demand the courts uphold the letter of the law, the more there is justice.

Many people don’t believe this, including lawyers. My experience has been that the lawyers who bitch the most about how “unfair” the system is are those lawyers who coast through their cases and think they will get a good result for their client by being a “good ol’ boy,” or by virtue of their popularity with judges and other lawyers.

It is this legal half-assery that is making the system veer wildly from true justice to what many perceive as miscarriages of justice. 

That's not all. When people who aren't lawyers see this legal half-assery, they assume it applies to the entire system.

Consider that in today’s political climate the justice system is now hotly debated among people of all political stripes. The right and left howl perpetually about some injustice fomented by the courts. Judges who don’t rule the way a certain voting bloc wants are decried as unjust and the mob gets ready to storm the Bastille and string the offending judge up by the neck. I am not kidding. The judge who handed down the legally correct sentence in the Stanford University "rape" case received death threats for merely following the law – the very thing we expect him to do. Why did I put quotes around the word "rape?" Read the actual case and you'll see why.

I remember seeing the tidal wave of abuse heaped upon the judge, the courts, the system, the lawyers, the parties when that case made the press. The media – which never gets a legal story right no matter how they try – ginned up a controversy for ratings and the public ate it like cats devour catnip. The end result was a “movement” to unseat the judge.  Others wanted to simply kill him.

These reactions are terrifying, because they threaten your freedom. That's what I said. You're freedom. Why? Because next time you might be the Frankenstein monster the mob wants to lynch. It’s that simple.

Mob mentality is never a good thing. Whether that mob is in the streets of Ferguson, Mo. -- attacking and looting local businesses because they don’t like the result of a case  -- or a wild-eyed mob of internet activists, both do considerable damage to society.

The justice system is supposed to a co-equal branch of our government. You have the legislative branch which makes the laws. You have the executive branch which enforces the law. You have the independent courts which make sure the other two don’t tramp down your constitutional right to be free.

So, when a mob attacks the justice system for merely following the law, it’s a threat to our freedom because no society can survive if a mob of howling dogs decides who lives or dies.

A couple of days ago I was reading a Facebook site for a left-wing group called “Democracy Now.” There was a story on their page of a rape case in which a defendant was given a three year sentence for a “rape.” No details were given. The howling mob of left-wing Democracy Now supporters exploded into a rage. It was, in their minds, an injustice, another example of how women are disposable. And it was proof our justice system is irretrievably broken.

I read the post and thought there was so little information that it was impossible to tell what had actually happened.

Then I did something unusual. I commented on it. I said, “As a lawyer for more than two decades, I encourage you to stop second-guessing the court system on these cases. You didn't hear the evidence. You don't know all of the nuances.” I explained that the media never gets the legal case right, that there are complex rules and laws which must be followed and it’s never as simple as a media story wants to make it. In short, you can't package a 1,000 page legal transcript into one 14" news story.

I was then attacked from all sides. The lefties on Democracy Now told me I had no right to comment because I’d never been raped. The righties said I was a dirty defense lawyer and the lefties agreed. I was assailed as a racist white Southerner. I was accused of being an apologist for men. I was accused of supporting rape as a socially accepted part of a male-dominated culture.

I was called a liar because I am a criminal defense lawyer. I was repeatedly called a racist who only defends rich white people. I was accused of “lawyer mansplaining, even more heinous and unusable.” I was accused of promoting “white pride.”

Many of the people posting on the site wanted “justice,” by that they meant only one result – the person accused is found guilty and then killed. It was only justice when the accused was convicted. It was only justice when revenge was extracted. The rules of our system meant nothing. The rules of evidence meant nothing. A fast-track guilty verdict was all that was acceptable.

Many said justice would only be served when the accused went to prison to be raped by black inmates. Wait! I thought they said I was the racist! 

One person said judges who follow the law “encourage others to rape. This is a sick country!” Another person said he was “ashamed to be Caucasian” when he heard such verdicts. Another person said “our ‘justice system’ in this country is now non-existent.” Another implied all white people are rich and are rapists. He then said, “These judges, and (sic) well as these fucking rapists need lynching.”

Another said that if there is not enough evidence to convict the police should “just make up shit.”

The lesbian feminists and the right wingers apparently hate penises.“He needs to be castrated,” another intoned, “along with his lawyer and the judges that set him free.” Still another favored cutting the accused’s penis off as punishment.

One poster who was appalled at the alleged rape of the victim supported raping the accused. Another posited that the accused should be stoned to death. Many felt the accused should be killed because “he will do it again.” Are we ISIS? Stoning?

These attitudes are terrifying because they speak to a black and white mentality that I seriously can’t believe still exists in the world, much less in the supposedly educasted United States of America. The lefty feminists who banded with the right wing extremists, the Jesus freaks and the moralists all appeared to be advocating for a mindet found in wahabi-Islam and the freaked out Calvinism of old. 

Justice by mob rule. 

If this mentality isn’t aggressively challenged, we will see the end of all fairness in our courts -- and in our society. Aw hell, we won’t even need courts! Just a rope and tree.

And that’s always worked so well, right?

(Required by Alabama Law: No representation is made that the quality of legal services to be performed is greater than other lawyers.)

This is what is wrong with America today

Look at this photo. This is 28-year-old Ieshia Evans passively opposing the Baton Rouge Police Department at a protest march. The cops were pushing and antagonizing the peaceful crowd, and the situation was getting tense. Ieshia calmly approached to passively object to the police threat. She was promptly arrested for no reason.

This is what is wrong with America today.

Cops dressed like RoboCop, in full military-style assault gear, confronting a passive, unarmed woman as if she is a threat – and then arresting her for no reason.

Our society is teetering on the brink of civil collapse because of the rise of the police state. Americans are no longer protected by police. They are assaulted by them. 

Cops shoot unarmed people daily. The truth is, cops kill nearly double the number of whites as blacks annually. Shockingly, nearly half of all people killed annually by cops are unarmed.

Why? What is happening?

It’s a combination of things.

1) Cops are scared to death. When I was a cop in metro-Atlanta in the 1980s, we weren’t taught to fear the public. Today, cops are trained from day one to fear everyone they encounter. Every man, woman and child is a threat. The training – ostensibly a model believed to enhance police survival – teaches them that we are all out to kill them. Recruits are taught that everyone is dangerous. It’s an us against them mentality.  Cops call the general public “civilians,” as if they’re military. They’re not. They’re civilian employees of the taxpayers.

When I was a cop, we were taught at police academy – and reminded when we went to work – that the public trusts us to make things better not worse. Our commanders used to say, “It’s your job to make things better. Don’t go into a situation and inflame it. Defuse it.” Today cops inflame every situation they encounter because of their training. (See # 3, later.)

2) Cops today view themselves as “the law,” rather than servants of the law. Cops have limited jurisdiction to arrest people. Their job is to make arrests when the cop believes that someone has broken the law. It requires probable cause. A cop must believe a crime has been committed and that the person being arrested likely committed it. In the case of petty crimes, the cop actually has to see the crime committed. Period. They’re not allowed to give legal advice. They’re not allowed to settle civil disputes. They’re not allowed to arrest people without cause and not allowed to arrest people for breaking laws that don’t exist. Of course, they do this constantly. Cops now view themselves as the arbiters of all things legal. An example: One time I was entering a courthouse and a cop, out of the blue, looks at me and says, “Take your hat off.” Now, there is no law requiring we take our hats off entering a courthouse. There is a rule that you can’t wear a hat in a courtroom, unless for religious reasons, but not just in a courthouse. I looked at the cop and said, “No.” He got instantly furious. I said to him, “You’re job is to uphold the law, not rules you make up in your head.” He insisted that I join him in the office of the presiding judge, whereupon the judge nicely told the cop he was wrong.


Cops often overreach beyond their authority, such as cops includes being called out to disputes between landlords and tenants, ordering the tenant to pay a landlord money, when in fact any judge would say the opposite. Cops trying to unilaterally enforce divorce decrees and child visitation orders, which they have no jurisdiction to do. Cops enforcing zoning ordinances, which they have no authority to do, is commonplace. Cops ordering people to do or not do things which are not even in the criminal code. I remember one case where a cop showed up at a hotel and told people not to use the diving board, etc. It’s bizarre. Cops want to micro-manage the lives of every American.

This becomes dangerously problematic when it comes to criminal investigations. Cops often make snap judgments about who committed a crime and then view themselves as judge, jury and executioner. They view themselves as having the right to destroy the lives of those they arrest.

When cops shoot down unarmed people, it’s because they view themselves as having the right to do so. Cops often bend the rules, falsify evidence, make mountains out of molehills all with the intent to do as much damage to the life of the person they are targeting as possible. Why? Because they believe the person deserves it, and they view themselves as entitled to do this damage.

3) Cops are trained these days to inflame every situation they are involved in. How could this happen? It’s simple. When I was a cop we were taught the “public safety” model. Our job was to keep the peace, to make no arrest unless absolutely necessary. When we encountered people, it was our job to ask questions, lots of questions, to discern what was going on. When dealing with people, be kind and polite and soft-spoken. Don’t be a pushover, but be professional at all times. I arrested many people who had committed serious felonies with “please” and “thank you.” Politeness often defused a tense situation. 

When I encounter older cops who were taught this training model, I am always impressed. They are sober, reasonable, realistic, professional cops who know their job and do it well. They don’t lie in their reports and they don’t lie on the witness stand. I have considerable admiration for them.

Not so the younger cops. Today, cops are taught what is called the “command and control” model. No longer are cops taught to arrive at a call and ask questions. It’s that simple. They’re taught to arrive and put everyone on the ground, no matter how young or old, infirm, or innocent. Cops arrive barking orders, hands on their guns, telling everyone to get down as if everyone is an armed felon. Guess what? People react with strong opposition to that. And they object. They refuse. Then they’re taken down violently as “non-compliant.” Look at any police report today and you will see that word: “non-compliant.” In short, someone refused to be talked to or be treated like a criminal. The second you don’t submit to a cop’s demands, you are notched up as worthy of being kicked to the ground and hog-tied and even shot. I don’t care how law-abiding you are, the cops will take you down. They are taught they are justified in knocking you down because you were non-compliant and questioned their “command and control.”

Interestingly, the late United States Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia – a very pro-cop judge – wrote in many opinions that he took issue with this style of policing. He said he believed our nation’s founders wouldn’t have tolerated this treatment by cops for a second, either.

This is at the root of the problem. Cops think they have the right to control everyone and issue commands that must be obeyed. They don’t. If you tell them that, they will bow up and become hostile – even violently so. They call this beating on innocent, but non-compliant, people an “attitude adjustment.” They will kick you to the ground, slam you to the pavement, injure you badly, and then hog-tie you like an animal and then chuckle to each other, “I gave him an attitude adjustment.”

Further, cops are taught to lie to us. We are not allowed to lie to them. That’s a crime. The United States Supreme Court has said cops can lie to us to “further an investigation.” So, we’re placed in a position of submission to the cops. Cops are taught to never trust anything we say. They are taught to believe nothing. We are taught we are supposed to respect them and believe everything they say, especially when they’re on the witness stand. I’ve said for 20 years - you wanna see a cop lie? Put his hand on the Bible and then have swear him to tell the truth. Now sit back and watch the lies come out.

4) Cops now believe they are superheroes. It’s true. After 9/11, politicians lauded all initial responders to disasters with hero status.  Cops were no longer public servants, they were an elite superhuman hero. This puffery caused an ever-inflating egotism that is pervasive in all post-9/11 cops all over the USA now. Add to that the command and control mantra and you have super-ego cops thinking they’re above us all. They’re akin to Superman.

This causes a complete disregard for the rule of law. Cops do what they want, when they want, and then get pissed off when you call them on it.

5) Most cops are stupid. It’s the truth. Most cops go through – and this will shock you – from between four to 18 weeks of training at police academy. Much of that time is spent teaching cop wannabes not to shoot themselves in the leg or foot when they’re drawing their pistols. When you read stories about the number of cops being shot in the USA annually, dig deeper. Most of these are self-inflicted shootings of their own leg or foot. It’s true!

That’s right! Imagine, the cop with all the military hardware who is barking at you to get on the ground for no reason may have had as little as one month’s training! No wonder they’re out of control. 

Cops are usually high school graduates. Some departments, such as Denver Police Department, have raised standards and actively seek college graduates, but most departments don’t. Why? Money. You can pay a kid with a high school diploma a lot less than a fully-formed adult with a college degree. This results in a lesser quality police force.

Cops very often break the law they’re allegedly trying to uphold. They don’t read people their Miranda Rights. They violate search and seizure laws. They ignore (with the tacit approval of their commanders) case law which requires them to do or not do certain things during an arrest. They are taught to bend the rules to the breaking point to “enforce the law.” Enforce? That’s a problem right there. When you tell someone to “enforce” something, you imply autonomy. It’s the job of the courts to enforce the law, not the cops.

Interestingly, in 21 years of practicing law, I’ve had several run ins with cops in court where they were convinced they had a say-so in the outcome of a case. This is partially because many prosecutors grant to their officers more influence than they deserve. Cops will cross the bar of the courtroom to the area where lawyers and judges conduct business to try and browbeat the lawyers into whatever resolution they want. When I tell a cop, “look, you’re not a lawyer and you’re not a judge. You’re just a witness, go sit down,” they get livid. I once got into a heated confrontation with a cop who actually picked up a court file and tried to tamper with it.

6) Cops now have immunity from being sued. When Ronald Reagan was president, he pushed through legal reform that prevented cops from being sued for violating your civil rights. He said that it was unfair for any cop to have to worry about losing his home merely for violating the rights of the citizens. How inane is that? As a result, cops know they can break the rules – even break the law – when dealing with the public and they’re safe from being sued. When I was a cop, that threat of lawsuit made us circumspect – and it led to us being more careful not to arrest people who didn’t need arresting.  Today cops arrest without fear of reprisals.

7) Our nation is awash in a gun-nut madness that is destroying us all. We are a nation of 330,000,000 people and we own 310,000,000 guns. Many of these guns are high-capacity, high-velocity semi-automatic pistols and rifles which are suitable only for military combat. Because we own them, the cops own them too. It’s like we’re Russia and the cops are China. A constant militarization of our culture puts us all at risk. 

It’s ridiculous. People own guns that don’t need guns. Teens buy guns because of the threat of other teens who have guns. Adults buy guns out of fear of other adults who have guns. The cops buy bigger and badder guns out of fear of the teens and adults who have guns. And just this week, for the first time in history the cops in Dallas used a bomb to kill a suspect. A bomb? We've descended into near anarchy.

As a result, our nation is gripped with a paranoia that is terrifying. The pro-gun types believe in this hero myth of the lone armed American citizen taking down a terrorist or an "active shooter," saving the public from some evil-doer. This is a joke.

The reality is most people can hit their target only 15% of the time – and that’s on a shooting range. The odds are in a high-stress situation that 15% will drop to zero. Think on this: If armed, militarized SWAT teams can’t take down an “active shooter,” what makes you think you can with your gun? You can’t.

So, what’s wrong with our country is not easy to define, but it’s easy to see. We’re a police state where the public and the cops are militarized to the point of open warfare and we’re screaming at each other in such a way that everyone has their finger on the trigger.

This photo shows just how bad the situation is.

(Required by Alabama Law: No representation is made that the quality of legal services to be performed is greater than other lawyers.)

How the feds are using hacking techniques to catch child porn users

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/how-the-government-is-using-malware-to-ensnare-child-porn-users/2016/01/21/fb8ab5f8-bec0-11e5-83d4-42e3bceea902_story.html

Incest is legal in many parts of the world.... Who knew?

A couple of years ago my former law partner William L. Pfeifer, Jr. and I represented a man accused of incest and sodomy. He had been improperly convicted of incest because the statute of limitations had expired before his prosecution began.  

Under Alabama law, there is no time limit to charge someone with rape, or with a sex offense involving a victim under the age of 16, but there is a three (3) year statute of limitations for other felonies including sodomy 1st  and sodomy 2nd  degree, sexual torture, sexual abuse 1st degree, sexual abuse of a child less than 12 years old, and incest. Alabama Ala. Code § 15-3-5(a)(4) & 15-3-1 (2006).

Bill was able to get the man’s incest conviction overturned and I was able to get his sodomy indictment dismissed for lack of evidence.

Recently, I had a client ask me about the status of incest laws. He told me he is having a sexual relationship and romantic relationship with his own adult daughter and they wanted to marry. They knew that incest is illegal in the United States, but they were curious about other countries. Honestly, at first I joked that we were not likely to find any countries which permitted sex between family members, much less marriage. Boy, was I wrong.

As I began my research, I was astounded to find that, in fact, many countries have no problem with intra-family sex or intra-family marriage, or both. 

In Asia, legalized incest isn’t commonplace, but some of the largest societies in the region permit it. China is an emerging economic giant because the strict totalitarian Communist country has adopted Western market-based reforms. Interestingly, China has rejected Western morals relating to sexuality and the country permits consensual incestuous sex, but not incestuous marriage.

Interestingly, Hong Kong province expressly forbids heterosexual incest and incestuous marriage, but permits incestuous sex only between gays and lesbians over the age of 16. I wonder if that was a typo when they wrote the law!

India is open season for incestuous sex and marriage. There appears to be no legal or cultural prohibition against intra-family sex or marriage, and the country has virtually no age of consent laws. For years India’s permissiveness has caused consternation amongst westerners who posit that this foments child sexual exploitation. It is abundantly clear that India and it’s teeming population of one billion people are fine with the way it is.

Thailand is a country that culturally permits sex with children, despite some recently passed laws to curb the practice. While this issue continues to cause controversy in the international community, it is not a priority for the Thai population. Cultural norms permit incest even with children. While Thai leaders struggle with the growing international pressure to restrict and prohibit sex with children, the issue of incestuous sex among adults is clear. The government of Thailand permits incestuous sex between adults over 18 years of age but incestuous marriage is illegal.

Before you get the idea that those Asian cultures are unique in the world, consider this: Incestuous sex is legal in much of Western Europe and it has been for centuries.

France, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Netherlands, and Luxembourg legalized incest in 1810, when Napoleon ruled. Apparently the diminutive Emperor felt incest was no big deal, and these countries have permitted intra-family sex for over 200 years. Intra-family marriage, however, is not permitted. 

Sweden, a country that loves bureaucracy, allows incestuous sex but you have to obtain the  government’s permission first. Imagine going by your local city hall and asking for that form!

In Russia, consensual sex between adults, including incest, is legal. Intra-family marriage is not allowed. 

The Middle East is a complex place, and many cultural traditions permit incestuous sex, incestuous sex with children, and even incestuous marriage, but most of the Islamic governments officially forbid these practices. That said, Turkey has legalized consensual incestuous sex between adults.

South America, which is nearly 88% Roman Catholic, has only two countries which permit incest, but it’s two of the largest countries on the continent.

Argentina permits incestuous sex if both individuals are over the age of consent. Intra-family marriage is illegal.

Brazil permits incestuous sex if the participants are over the age of 14, but intra-family marriage is illegal, except when.... Oh man, is it complicated. In fact, Brazil loves bureaucracy more than even Sweden, and has a byzantine system of rules, definitions and prohibitions on incestuous marriage that will make your head spin. Some relationships, i.e. first cousins, are permitted to marry in some cases. So, isn’t that incest? Whew!

Only one country on the African continent permits incestuous sex. The Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) permits consensual incestuous sex between adults, but not marriage.

Remember, this article is informational only. If you want legal advice as to a particular country, consult a lawyer in that country. In fact, consult two. This article is not legal advice and this article doesn’t constitute an attorney/client relationship.

(Alabama law requires the following: “No representation is made that the quality of legal services performed is greater than other lawyers.”)

Let's move those memorials to dead cops away from courthouses

The monuments to cops killed in the line of duty which are sprouting up all over the nation in front of courthouses need to be taken down. Here’s why:
In front of the Madison County Alabama Courthouse, indeed in front of the Huntsville City Municipal Courthouse, in fact in front of many courthouses all across the country, we are seeing gaudy monuments and memorials erected commemorating police officers who have died in the line of duty.
I think these memorials  are dangerous to our democracy and our judicial system and need to be removed and re-erected in front of police stations, where they belong.
Why? Because courthouses are the people’s forum, where people not only are tried for crimes, but go to have their lawsuits heard, their divorce trials, their names changed, to buy their marriage licenses, to buy their car tags, etc. It’s not cops who make all of that happen. It’s lawyers and judges and court clerks.
These monuments to dead cops perpetuate the notion that we are at war with crime and that police are the good guys and courthouses are only a place for convicting people accused of crimes.
Worse yet, it perpetuates the concept that cops are military defenders and we’re subject to their will. In fact, cops today often refer to the public as “civilians.” They’re civilians, too!
The monument in front of Madison County Courthouse has some prose about when a cop dies a part of America dies. What hooey! People die every day. A part of America dies only when a cop dies? What about when a pastor dies? What about when a doctor dies? What about when a nurse dies? A symphony conductor? An artist? An environmentalist?
The concept that America dies a little bit each time a cop dies is inane.
Here’s why this endangers our very freedoms: When honest taxpaying citizens  arrive at the courthouse for jury duty they have to pass these monuments. They are subjected to the not-so subtle notion that cops are the good guys and we’re at war with crime. These citizens are at the courthouse to rule not just  as to the guilt or innocence of a person accused of a crime, but also as to whether or not a plaintiff is entitled to money for some civil cause. All of these potential jurors have to walk past these giant monuments to the cops. 
When they get into the courtroom, they’re looking at cops as witnesses. Cops are on a memorial outside, so cops must be the good guys, right? Let’s give that cop more credibility than the average person because he’s a cop. Hey, he must be the good guy. There’s a memorial right outside the window! Let's forget that the courthouse is the people's house. It isn't the realm of cops. It's the realm of people having their cases heard, or their marriage license approved. Who could blame someone for thinking that the courthouse is for the cops? It’s a psychological thing. It’s a wink-wink hint that the cops are the good guys and the people on trial are not. It's a message that cops control the courts, not the people.
Why am I strident about this? I'm an ex-metro Atlanta cop. I wore a badge and I saw how bad cops abuse the law and the public. Good cops are a rarity. Yes. It's true. I became a lawyer because of the evil I saw cops doing. The bad news is cops are no longer the Andy Griffiths and Adam 12 types who police with courtesy and kindness. They haven't been for decades. 
         Cops are militarizing like crazy. They now view themselves as against the public. Cops tell us to trust everything they say and do whilst they don’t trust us at all. Cops say it’s because the world is a more violent place and they’re on the front lines of keeping America safe from criminals. The truth is crime is at an 20-year low. Crime has been cut drastically and not because of law enforcement. It's because of social programs for the poor and because we have cut the birthrate among the poor drastically thanks to birth control and -- eee gag! -- legal abortion.
Cops say they have to militarize because they have the most dangerous job in the country and they put their lives on the line daily.

Oh, really? Being a cop is not even in the top ten of the most dangerous jobs in America. They don’t need to militarize. They don’t need to carry semi-automatic assault rifles and dress in military-style garb. They don’t need to shoot first and ask questions later. They don’t need to beat down and handcuff people in the name of “officer safety.”
Look at the US Department of Labor statistics. Here is the list of the most dangerous professions. Cops aren’t even in the top ten.

#1: Logging workers: 127.8 deaths per 100,000 people.
#2: Fishermen: 117 deaths per 100,000 people.
#3: Aircraft pilots: 53.4 deaths per 100,000 people.
#4: Roofers: 40.5 deaths per 100,000 people.
#5: Garbage collectors: 36.8 deaths per 100,000 people.
#6: Electrical power line installation/repair: 29.8 deaths per 100,000 people.
#7: Truck drivers: 22.8 deaths per 100,000 people.
#8: Oil and gas extraction: 21.9 deaths per 100,000 people.
#9: Farmers and ranchers: 21.3 deaths per 100,000 people.
#10: Construction workers: 17.4 deaths per 100,000 people.

Cops aren’t even in the top ten.
# 11: Law enforcement 11 deaths per 100,000 people.

So, let’s build a monument in front of the courthouse to logging workers, who put their lives on the line every day so we can have paper to write on. Let’s build a monument to fisherman who put their lives on the line to make sure we have fresh sushi. Or farmers and ranchers, who risk death daily to make sure we have meats and veggies.
       Or, better yet, let's build a monument to the lawyers and judges and clerks who make the judicial system work for all of the people who enter the courthouse -- whether they're there to renew their car tags or win a lawsuit or get a divorce.
You get the point.

(Required by Alabama Law: No representation is made that the quality of legal services is greater than other lawyers.)

Alabama has new drug law that poses risks for convicted drug offenders

Alabama has passed a new anti-drug law that calls for jail time for convicted drug offenders, even misdemeanants, for buying over-the-counter ephedrine or pseudophedrine.

In 2012 the legislature passed a new drug offense law but didn’t publicize it so it’s not well known. 

Alabama now has a law that if you’re convicted of a drug offense, and that’s a drug offense anywhere in any state, you are prohibited from legally buying ephedrine in Alabama. In short, if you’re a convicted drug offender, including misdemeanor drug paraphernalia, and you go to a pharmacy or other store and legally buy ephedrine, you can go to jail.

The first offense is a misdemeanor, but subsequent offenses are felonies with hefty prison sentences attached.

So, beware. 

If you've got a drug conviction, avoid ephedrine and pseudophedrine like the plague. If you buy it legally, you have committed an offense which could land you in prison.

And if you do get charged under this law, remain silent, don't talk to the cops and demand your lawyer. 

Required by Alabama law: No representation is made that the quality of legal services performed is greater than other lawyers.

Don't cooperate or play informant with drug agents -- here's why.

For quite some time now drug agents with various state and local agencies have operated on a “bigger fish” mentality. They want to arrest up the food chain, they say. (Truthfully, I disbelieve cops want to go any higher than mid-level dealers, as I never see the big traffickers taken down. Why? They shoot back. Cops want the everyday user and the mid-level dealers in their clutches as users and mid-level dealers don’t represent a threat to police and their family the way a big trafficker would.)

The cops raid your house (usually because one of your friends is an informant) or stop your vehicle and find drugs and they “detain” you. They tell you “it’s not an arrest,” but it is. (The law says if you’re not free to leave you’ve been busted. It’s that simple.)

They use the old carrot and stick routine.

The cops have you in cuffs, usually in the back of their squad car. They begin the psychological pressure. They tell you you’re going to do 20 years or more in prison. They’re going to “make sure that you get maximum prison time.” They tell you you’re never going to see the light of day.

That’s the stick part.

Now, here comes the carrot. 

They suddenly soften their tone, and tell you that if you’ll become a snitch, an informant, if you “give us some good busts, all of this will go away. We’ll never arrest you. We’ll never press charges against you.”

You are terrified of going to jail, so they have you at a psychological disadvantage. You think, why not? If I give them some names, help them makes some busts, I’m off the hook! Right?

They sweeten the pot. They tell you they’ll turn you loose right now without arresting you if you promise to work with them. You see a way out.  You agree to work as an informant. The drug cops turn you loose! You’re free, but are you?

The truth is, you’ve just postponed your arrest, not stopped it. In fact, you’re about to make your situation worse.

Why?

Because the cops working drug interdiction today no longer live up to their word. 

They get you roped in as an informant. You give them good intel, you help arrange buys. You stick your neck out. You risk your life – and believe me if word leaks that you’re an informant you can very likely end up a target of drug pushers who will think nothing of silencing you.

The cops then say to you, “It’s not enough. You have to give us more. We need more names. We need more buys.” You’ve given them all you have. You’ve told them all you know. They’ve written down everything you’ve said and done for them in a file.

You begin to rethink your cooperation. Suddenly you’re way out on a limb and the cops are now making it clear they’re not happy with you. You panic. You stop working for them. They call and threaten you, give you ultimatums. Then silence. You hear nothing from the cops for weeks.

Then you get pulled over. There is a warrant for your arrest for the drugs the cops nailed you with originally weeks or months back. 

You realize right then you’ve been conned, lied to, tricked.

The cops take you to jail. You make bond. You hire a lawyer, or obtain a court-appointed lawyer. The prosecutor comes to the table with a file 20 pages thick of everything you’ve said or done as an informant, not to lessen the charge against you – but to prove you’re an even worse druggie that the original charge shows. In short, your cooperation will be used to enhance your prison sentence!

That’s right. After all you did to help the cops and get your butt out of trouble the cops are now using your cooperation as evidence against you!

How can this happen?

It happens because cops are allowed by law to lie to you. The courts have said so. It’s legal for cops to lie to gain advantage in the “war on crime.”

You fell right into their trap, made yourself look far worse and far more culpable than you are, and they pulled the rug out from under you – laughing at you the entire time.

Not only were they never going to drop the charge against you, they’re going to seek greater punishment using your cooperation as proof of your status as a big-time dope dealer.

So, why are they doing this?

Cops today have no integrity. They’re all about scoring busts and so they can thump their chests and claim brownie points for being a tough cop. Respect for the law among cops is at an all-time low.

I recently had an assistant district attorney testifying in a case in which we were trying to set aside what I believed was a wrongful conviction of a client on a drug charge. The client had been represented by another lawyer after his arrest. For an entire year he had worked as an informant for the drug task force until he had exhausted his ability to work with the agents. When he told them he could no longer provide any information, indeed word had spread he was informing, the drug agents had him arrested and he was sent to trial. Amazingly, all of the information he had voluntarily provided to the drug agents was now used against him to enhance his sentence.

When his former lawyer called the drug agents to find out why they broke their promise, they laughed at him. “He didn’t do enough,” they said.

This assistant district attorney was on the stand testifying and he let slip an important truth: It mattered not to prosecutors how much an informant cooperated – if the drug agents didn’t tell the prosecutors to drop the charges there would be no deal. In short, the cops can lie to people to gain their cooperation and then turn on the poor informant and the prosecutors don’t care.

“If the cops say they didn’t get what they want, I don’t care how much they cooperate,” this assistant district attorney said.

So, here’s something to consider: 

If you are caught with drugs, be smart. Stop talking. Don’t claim the drugs. Don’t say anything other than “I want a lawyer.” You have a 5th Amendment right to remain silent. Anything you say will be used against you – including anything you say thinking you’re going to cooperate and get out of the situation without an arrest.

Remember, demand a lawyer. The Supreme Court of the United States said recently that mere silence can be used against you. You have to demand a lawyer, too. So, demand a lawyer.

Then shut up. Say nothing. Nothing you say is going to prevent you from being arrested and everything you say is going to be used against you.

Once the cops have taken you to jail, make bond using a bondsman. Why? Cash bonds and property bonds aren’t always consolidated bonds that will carry you through the process. A bondsman will obtain a consolidated bond so you stay out while the trial is pending.

Then, call a lawyer. Do some research. Pick a lawyer with a track record of winning criminal cases. Hire that lawyer to win your case.

(Required by Alabama law: No representation is made that the quality of legal services to be performed is greater than other lawyers.)

Alabama prisons dodging lawyers for inmates

The Alabama prison system is constantly in the news these days because of civil rights lawsuits over prison conditions, maltreatment of inmates by prison guards, and – in the case of Julia Tutwiler State Prison for Women – sexual exploitation of female inmates.

In the 20 years I have been practicing law, I’ve seen another change for the worse. Prison wardens and personnel have become impossible for lawyers to deal with.

It used to be I could see a client in prison with a phone call. I’d tell them I was a lawyer, the name and inmate number of my client, and I’d ask for permission to visit my client at a certain day and time. I was always met with cooperative, friendly responses. All I needed to do was arrive at the prison at the appointed time with my driver’s license and my ID card from the Alabama State Bar and I was in. It was smooth. It was virtually effortless. I saw my clients, handled my business with them in short order, and left with smiles and expressions of thanks for their cooperation.

In the past two decades that collegiality has evaporated. Now it’s virtually impossible to see a client in prison without going through a ridiculous amount of stalling, red tape, obfuscation, double talk, and deliberate “forgetfulness.”

The prisons want lawyers to call for a permission sheet, which is faxed (who faxes these days?) or emailed to me. I fill it out, copy my driver’s license and ID from the state bar and send it via email or fax back. I then get a notice I have permission to come to the prison. Sounds easy, right?

Not so. The administrative assistants for the wardens seem to have a system of ignoring lawyers down pat. They never call back. This month I called Tutwiler Prison on May 11, 12 and May 20 seeking a permission form to visit a client. No calls back. None. Nothing.  This week I called Bullock Correctional on May 18, 19 and May 20 seeking permission to see a client. At Bullock, I was promised the form on Monday. No form. I called on Tuesday, where an irritated staffer told me she’d send it Tuesday. No fax. On Wednesday, same thing. So, I called the office of the director of Alabama Department of Corrections. His assistant promised to get to the bottom of it. She called me back to tell me the staffer at Bullock would get me the forms “in plenty of time for you to visit.”

I’ve talked to other lawyers, some who have practiced longer than I have, and they inform me they have the same troubles. 

Apparently there is a “circle the wagons” approach going on at Alabama Department of Corrections. With so many lawsuits flying against the system, they’ve gotten gun shy about lawyers coming to visit clients.

None of that matters. Incarcerated people have the right to visit with their attorney whenever necessary. It’s the law. It’s part of the Sixth, Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments.

(Required by Alabama law: No representation is made that the legal services to be performed are greater than other lawyers.)

Don't get legal advice from bondsman

If you are arrested, the first thing you will invariably do is try to get out of jail. That’s a good idea. (Remember not to talk to the cops or give a statement.)

You’ll call a bondsmen. That’s a good idea, too, because he’ll arrange for your release from jail. Unfortunately, there’s a downside. The bondsmen may try to tell you how to handle your case and that’s bad. That’s practicing law without a license.

Why do we care? Because bondsmen aren’t lawyers and the advice they give people as they bond them out is often so wrong as to endanger you.

Why? It’s simple. Bondsmen think that because they work in the criminal justice system – and often have years of experience writing bonds – that they know the law itself.

They don’t.

Let me give you an example: A guy who hired me for a possession of marijuana charge recently was told by his bondsmen to “just go to court and plead guilty because you’ll just get probation.” The guy didn’t want to go back to jail, because he’d get fired, and didn’t want to pay for a lawyer. So, he figured he’d take the bondsman’s advice and he’d be ok.

Thankfully, the guy’s wife had him seek out a lawyer and he called me. During our initial consultation he told me what the bondsman had said. I had heard it before. When I explained to him the ramifications of a guilty plea to marijuana, he was stunned.

I told him that in Alabama a drug conviction suspends your driver’s license. He was shocked. “But I have to drive to work and pay my bills.” I told him a drug conviction would prevent him from receiving some federal benefits. I also told him a drug conviction would prevent him from living in subsidized house. I told him that all employers now background check their employees and a drug conviction could impact his job. I told him a drug conviction requires mandatory assessment and attending and completing a drug treatment program.

“But, I’m guilty,” he said. “What do I do?”

I explained to him that there is a difference between being culpable and being guilty. The word “guilty” means you’ve been convicted by a court. The word culpable means you’re legally at fault, but that doesn’t mean you have to be found guilty. Every single day I help culpable people avoid being guilty people – with dismissals, diversions, pre-trial interventions, dismissals and not guilty verdicts. Bondsmen can’t do any of that.

Bondsmen don’t know how the system works, don’t have law degrees and a license to practice law, but they want to run their mouths and give people incorrect “legal advice.” They must think this makes them look “in the know.” Others want your money and know if you pay a lawyer you’ll struggle to pay the bonding company’s fee.

All bondsmen know how to do is fill out the bonding paperwork that gets a person out of jail.

Period.

If you’re arrested you need to talk to at least three good lawyers and then pick from those three which your gut instinct tells you is the one for you. Rely on your lawyer’s expertise to get you out of trouble, not your bondsman.

Oh, and I've been asked by several lawyers to add this to this blog: Bondsmen should never recommend lawyers to anyone, and vice-versa. You can't trust a bondsman's recommendation for a lawyer, as some lawyers give illegal kickbacks to bondsmen for the referral. This is illegal but it happens. The reverse is true, also. Some bondsmen give lawyers illegal kickbacks as well.

When a bondsman is asked for a referral for a lawyer or a lawyer is asked for a referral for a bondsman, the answer should always be, "I'm not allowed to make any recommendation by law." Any other answer should be considered as suspect.

Required by Alabama law: These recoveries and testimonials are not an indication of future results. Every case is different, and regardless of what friends, family, or other individuals may say about what a case is worth, each case must be evaluated on its own facts and circumstances as they apply to the law. The valuation of a case depends on the facts, the injuries, the jurisdiction, the venue, the witnesses, the parties, and the testimony, among other factors. Furthermore,,no representation is made that the quality of legal services to be performed is greater than the services of other lawyers.

Legalizing "sin" would benefit Alabama greatly.

Legalizing “sin” would benefit Alabama greatly.

The State of Alabama is constantly in a budget crisis. As a state, we are last or nearly last in every economic and life-style indicator because we’re broke. More people in Alabama are on welfare than work. We have little local revenue from taxation and we’re addicted to federal money to barely survive.

Politicians of both parties run and get elected on “no new taxes” pledges and then take office with no intent of actually running the state, balancing budgets, improving the state’s revenues and making Alabama’s economy competitive.

Alabama politicians ignore a wealth of revenue opportunities in the name of morality. 

Let’s be clear: Morality is not a political issue. Morality is a person’s internal code of ethics. Humankind is notorious for one thing: Morality espoused in public is often completely belied by actions which occur when no one is looking.

Let’s see how Alabama fails to measure up economically merely because Alabamians are hypocrites when it comes to “sinning.”

Marijuana —

Alabama is awash in drugs. Marijuana use is rampant. Crystal meth, cocaine, heroin and crack are land-office business here.

Marijuana is a cash crop.  According to the feds, the national average for marijuana use is 260 per 100,000 population. Alabama is higher than the national average with 273 per 100,000 population using marijuana. By the fed standard, 12,714 people in Alabama smoke weed. We know it's more than that because  a total of 13,349 people in Alabama used marijuana in 2014. How do we know? They were arrested for possessing it. Law enforcement will tell you that for every person caught using marijuana there are 8 people who are never caught.

So, that means the total marijuana usage, according to police statistics, in Alabama is 106,792 people. 

Sociologists claim this number is too low. Some studies show that as many as 88% of people nationwide have used marijuana at least once. 

So, if that number is accurate, then 4.3 million people in Alabama have used marijuana at least once.

If Alabama legalized marijuana the tax revenue that the state would earn is easy to calculate.

Let’s look at Colorado and do the math. Colorado has 5.36 million people compared to Alabama’s 4.89 million. We can simply take Colorado’s numbers since the state legalized marijuana and multiply those figures by .897 and come up with a projection of what Alabama would earn in tax revenues from marijuana.

Colorado’s legal marijuana is a $700 million a year industry. Colorado weed generated $53 million in tax revenue to the public coffers. Income tax off of Colorado marijuana sales is $140 million annually. 

Alabama legal weed would be a $627.9 million industry.  Alabama would reap $47.5 million in sales taxes off of legal weed annually. Income taxes off of marijuana would exceed $120 million.

What other industry could instantly generate nearly $50 million in taxes for Alabama? None.

Casinos –

To calculate what Alabama would earn from casino gaming we need only look at Mississippi.

Mississippi’s casinos generate $2.4 billion in annual revenues. The income tax from this industry exceeds $480 million yearly.

Mississippi projects it will collect $2.17 million in sales tax revenues from gambling in 2015. Alabama, a state of comparable size and population, would generate the same amount yearly.

And don't forget, there are already two casino/hotels operating in Alabama on Indian land. Both are doing land-office business and raking in hundreds of millions in profits but not paying a dime of tax to the state because they're on Indian land!

So, casinos are already here, but we're not benefiting from them statewide. There is a strong rumor that Gov. Robert Bentley is asking the Indian casinos to bail out Alabama. That would be the ultimate display that Alabama has needed casinos all along. 

It's time.

Prostitution – 

Legalized prostitution is not a bad thing. In fact, it’s a good thing for public health and policy reasons. Wrap your head around this. In the states and countries of the world where prostitution has been legalized the industry has brought women out of sex slavery and made them legal independent contractors who work in a safe, regulated industry that generates tax revenues.

If you’re outraged and are yelling at the computer right now – screeching that you don’t want prostitution in Alabama – it’s too late. It’s already here.

Right now in Alabama there are as few as 4,000 and as many as 30,000 prostitutes working illegally in the state. This is a booming business in Alabama run by organized crime.  Think I’m lying? Google “escorts” and “Alabama” and you’ll find several web sites chock full of ads for prostitutes in every corner of Alabama. 

While some of these illegal prostitutes are working independently, the majority of these prostitutes are virtual slaves in an industry controlled by organized crime. These women have no say in anything they do. They are sex trafficked in and out of Alabama. They suffer abuse, beatings. Many are murdered and those who survive usually suffer from horrible sexually transmitted diseases. They are forced to have sex with six to eight men nightly.

Unlike illegal prostitutes, legal prostitutes host one customer nightly, are allowed to turn away any customer they are not comfortable with, and don’t face severe beatings and torture and exploitation.

So, let’s be clear: If there are between 4,000 and 30,000 prostitutes working in Alabama and these women sleep with six to eight men each night, let’s do the math: That means there are between 32,000 and 240,000 men in Alabama sleeping with prostitutes each night.

Clearly, prostitution exists in Alabama.

Legalizing prostitution would be a step in the right direction both from a public health standpoint and from a taxable revenue standpoint.

Prostitution is a $200 billion industry in USA. Most states outlaw prostitution, so that is tax-free revenue for sex traffickers and organized crime. If the sex industry were legalized and taxed, the income taxes on that money would exceed $40 billion. Sales tax would exceed $1.6 billion.

In Nevada, legal brothers are a gold-mine in tax revenue.  The average Nevada legal prostitute, working only one week a month, makes $100,000.00 annually and pays income taxes of $20,000.00 yearly.  Her employment is regulated by the state, which conducts monthly health-screenings, regulates the brothel owners, making sure her employment is voluntary and that she is paid properly and taxed properly.

Nevada legal brothels gross $75 million annually. Illegal prostitution in Las Vegas (the only part of Nevada where it is not legalized) is $5 billion annually, completely untaxed. One has to wonder why Nevada would legalize brothels, but NOT in Las Vegas, its number one tourist Mecca. As a result organized crime profits mightily in Vegas.

The legalization of brothels has brought a tax windfall for Nevada, where legal brothels generate $600,000 in annual sales tax revenue and $1.5 million in income taxes annually.

Not one case of AIDS has been diagnosed among the legal prostitutes in Nevada since it was legalized. AIDS among illegal prostitutes is rampant.

Not only would legalizing prostitution raise enormous tax revenues, it would reduce law enforcement costs. The cost of policing illegal prostitution is $7.5 million annually. The number of organized crime figures prosecuted for sex trafficking is - 1%. Mostly cops arrest the abused, beaten and terrified illegal prostitutes, victimizing them further, while their masters get away scot free.

Recent studies have shown that women who work in legal brothels are there because they like their jobs, like the income, and like the control they have over their lives. Further, the customers of these prostitutes like that the industry is regulated and the brothels are safe and not run by criminals.

Crunching the numbers, Alabama would generate $1.2 million in annual sales tax revenue and $3 million annually in income tax revenues from legalized prostitution.

All-nude strip clubs –

Strip clubs are marginally legal in Alabama. They are regulated to death, and thus their survival is often tenuous. These clubs are regulated so that dancers are only allowed to be topless and not nude as in Georgia.

There are currently only 25 strip clubs in Alabama. Despite rampant over-regulation and downright predatory hostility from government, these clubs generate revenue of $37.5 million annually. Alabama currently earns $3 million annually in sales taxes off of strip clubs. Income tax figures are hard to calculate because the dancers work strictly for tips and many clubs don't report.

Compare that to Georgia, which has 61 strip clubs. Most of them feature all-nude dancers. The gross revenue of these clubs in Georgia is – you might want to sit down – $700 million.  All-nude strip clubs in Atlanta are credited as a major attraction for Atlanta's $5 billion annual convention business.

So, Georgia gains an incredible annual income tax benefit of $140 million directly from strip clubs and a sales tax gain of $56 million annually.

Sales and income tax from conventions which come to Atlanta to enjoy the strip clubs there exceeds $1 billion.

And get this, the federal courts have ruled that nude dancing is a protected form of speech under the First Amendment. So, Alabama is actually violating federal constitutional law by prohibiting nude dancing.

So let’s look at Alabama compared to Georgia. This means that if Alabama legalized all-nude strip clubs, the potential economic impact is $350 million and the potential tax benefit annually to Alabama would be $94 million. We’d see income tax of $70 million and sales tax of $3.8 million each year. 

If we legalized marijuana, casinos, prostitution and all-nude strip clubs in Alabama, the sales tax revenue would exceed $55 million annually. 

It’s time we started recognizing that all of these industries are currently existing in some form or other in Alabama. Alabamians partake of all of these “sins.” The marijuana, casino, sex and strip club industries could be legalized, regulated and taxed to the benefit of all Alabamians. 

And get this: If you don’t smoke marijuana, use prostitutes, gamble or go to strip clubs, you wouldn’t pay a dime of this tax. You’d just get the benefit of the “sinning” of others!

Lastly, imagine how much the State of Alabama and tax payers would save on law enforcement and incarceration costs. It would be millions of dollars annually.

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