• Alabama Marks Confederate Memorial Day as Holiday’s Legacy Draws Continued Criticism

    Alabama Marks Confederate Memorial Day as Holiday’s Legacy Draws Continued Criticism

    MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Alabama is observing Confederate Memorial Day on Monday, continuing a state holiday that dates to 1901 and remains tied to Civil War remembrance, Lost Cause traditions and a long-running debate over how the South remembers the Confederacy. The day is observed the fourth Monday in April in Alabama, and state offices are…

  • Canadian Group Seeks Ban on Alabama-Tied Cars Over Prison Labor Claims

    Canadian Group Seeks Ban on Alabama-Tied Cars Over Prison Labor Claims

    BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Canadian human rights lawyers are asking Ottawa to block some U.S.-made vehicles and auto parts they say are tied to forced prison labor in Alabama, putting renewed scrutiny on the state’s prison work system and its role in the auto supply chain. The complaint targets imports the lawyers say can be traced…

  • Roy Moore’s Defamation Win Overturned in 11th Circuit

    Roy Moore’s Defamation Win Overturned in 11th Circuit

    MONTGOMERY, Ala. — A federal appeals court on Friday overturned an $8.2 million defamation verdict that former Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore won against a Democratic super PAC over a 2017 campaign ad that referenced sexual misconduct allegations against him, including claims that he had pursued a teenage girl at a shopping mall. The 11th…

  • Alabama’s Prison Health Contract Change Exposes a Deeper System in Crisis

    Alabama’s Prison Health Contract Change Exposes a Deeper System in Crisis

    MONTGOMERY, Ala — Alabama’s decision to cancel its billion-dollar prison health care contract with YesCare and replace it with Birmingham-based NaphCare is more than a vendor swap. It is the latest sign of a corrections system that has been under sustained scrutiny for brutal conditions, inadequate medical care and a long record of failure that…

  • Huntsville Scientist’s Death Fuels Online Conspiracy Talk, but Key Claims Don’t Hold Up

    Huntsville Scientist’s Death Fuels Online Conspiracy Talk, but Key Claims Don’t Hold Up

    HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — Online speculation surrounding the death of Alabama researcher Amy Eskridge has revived a long-running conspiracy theory that links obscure scientists, classified research and anti-gravity claims, but the public record does not support the more sensational accusations, and some of the names now attached to the theory do not fit the narrative cleanly.…

  • Opinion: How Fringe Rhetoric Became Republican Doctrine

    Opinion: How Fringe Rhetoric Became Republican Doctrine

    If the latest moves by allies of Donald Trump and the Department of Justice against the Southern Poverty Law Center feel familiar, that’s because they are. This is not a new fight. It is the continuation of a decades-long campaign to discredit any institution willing to call extremism by its name. The SPLC, founded in…