The Alexander City Outlook

Strange speaks at Chamber banquet

Attorney General Luther Strange spoke on a variety of legal issues facing Alabama at the Alexander City Chamber of Commerce Annual Banquet Friday morning.

Strange said that most pressing items on his agenda right now were trying to his crime package passed, as well as the BP oil spill case.

Strange’s law enforcement package addresses such problems as illegal gambling, metal theft, banning synthetic drugs and combating looting.

Strange said that the trial involving BP would begin in two weeks.

“This is possibly one of the largest and most complex cases in American history,” Strange said. “We have five states, thousands of individual claimants and a number of defendants –– not just BP.”

The attorney general said he wanted to avoid a prolonged battle such as the one that occurred in the wake of the Exxon-Valdez spill. Strange also described one step his office had already taken that should save taxpayers money.

“The law firm that had been hired to represent the state was going to take a 15 percent retainer,” Strange said. “I thought we had enough talent in my office to try this case, so I decided that we would take it ourselves and save that 15 percent for the taxpayers.”

Strange spoke on the issue of bingo in Alabama, saying that he hopes the issue will be laid to rest soon.

“We have decided to take a different approach to this case,” Strange said. “Our idea is to give people their day in court and give these people an opportunity to prove what they are doing is legal.”

As part of his recent package of law enforcement bills, Strange has moved to make possession of a slot machine a felony.

“We hope to eradicate this issues and get back to worrying about things that are more important in the state.”

After praising the local leadership here in Alexander City, Strange gave an example of one issue in Alabama that has been a result of the lack of good leaders.

“Alabama is now home to the largest municipal bankruptcy – Jefferson County,” Strange said. “Leadership makes a difference. There are 22 former elected officials or people that were connected to elected officials that are either in hail, going to jail or just got out.”

The good news about the bankruptcy, Strange said, is that there hasn’t been much spill over into other parts of the state, which he said his office was monitoring closely.

The attorney general went on to address the recent  passing of immigration laws.

“It is very hard for me as chief law enforcement officer to say to someone you have to obey the laws, I am going to put you in jail and arrest you when a whole group of people are ignoring the law,” Strange said. Society is based on the rule of law – that’s what keeps our whole democracy and system working and functioning.”

Strange said that unlike other states with similar laws, significant parts of Alabama’s laws have been upheld. The U.S. Supreme Court has taken the Arizona case and will probably be ruled on in June, Strange said.

Strange ended his talk by discussing recent items that have came out of Washington.

“There are some things coming out of Washington that have the potential for a huge impact on Alabama’s economy,” Strange said. “We are one of the majority of states that are challenging the healthcare act on constitutional grounds.

“But there are also some other items going on, such as with the EPA. We all want a clean environment, but the EPA has gone way beyond that idea. The bottom line is if some of these things get approved, it could put coal out of business and cause the cost of electricity to grow.”