The Alabama Constitution, since 1901, has said that a person convicted of a crime of “moral turpitude” loses the right to register to vote, unless he or she is absolved later. For many years, attempts have been made to persuade Alabama state courts to define “moral turpitude” so that the law is applied uniformly across the state, and so that individuals can know their rights. However, all those attempts have failed.
Finally, the legislature has passed a bill listing the crimes that are considered to be “moral turpitude” crimes. HB 282, by Mike Jones (R-Andalusia), passed the House unanimously on March 9 and passed the State Senate unanimously on May 17.
That’s a long list — with some interesting entries which beg further research into their definitions in Alabama statute. . . .
Sodomy, for one. Does terrorism include “eco-terrorism”, and does that include filming Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations etc.? (And the next sections after that one extend to soliciting or providing support for terrorism — and hindering prosecution of terrorism.)
“Trafficking in cannabis, cocaine, or other illegal drugs or trafficking in amphetamine and methamphetamine”. . . . (They took the radical step last year of decriminalizing cannabis oil with 3% or less of THC.)
Would it have been shorter and simpler to say that felonies X, Y, and Z are *NOT* considered to involve moral turpitude?
Fouling the water supplies is supposedly considered a crime worth losing one’s voting privileges in this…but I’d bet money that they wouldn’t dream of disenfranchising any Oil or Coal company owners/CEOs/Shareholders for the many times they leak oil or chemicals into rivers and lakes.
The fascism marches on in our country, unfortunately.