Alabama’s Attorney general is derisively known as “the Boy Genius.” This is because he is very young and, obviously to all, not a genius. At all. King’s state-sanctioned bio can be found here, where amusingly, the author calls him General King for a large part of the bio. A true leadership title! Maybe that’s the technical term for an AG, but it also sounds hilarious, particularly when applied to an inexperienced clown like Troy King.
King is from Elba, Alabama, which is famous for producing “Big Jim” Folsom and also for flooding (I remember the big 1990 flood when all of Elba was underwater for 4 days and the whole city was virtually wiped out). King went to my hometown university back when it was known as Troy State (no relation), graduated in 1990, then went to my law school, finishing in 1994. Exciting, right?
Well, the story gets interesting when King came to Tuscaloosa for law schooling and started penning pieces for the student newspaper. Among other things, King bashed gays and blamed them for the spread of AIDS. He recently stood by his views when confronted about his law school opinions.
King went into the AG’s office, then became the AG himself when Bill Pryor hopped onto the federal bench. With virtually no courtroom experience and no real policy positions of note, King decided to take the radical position of being “against crime.” So he took the side of the prosecution every time, touted the death penalty, and crusaded to protect “our keeeyuds” against sex abuse.
So what has he done lately? Aside from the occasional “witch hunt” to ruin the careers of enemy judges and campaign opponents, he’s earning the wrath of the state’s prosecutors. It is simply staggering to consider that the state’s DAs would not be a big fan of the AG, but sure enough, the Boy Genius has made all of them mad by stripping Shelby County DA Robby Owens of his ability to handle a case.
The case? That of LeSamuel Gamble, a kid who was simply present for a murder back in 1996. That’s right. Gamble didn’t kill anyone. Gamble was just a robber when the murder happened. The shooter, Marcus Presley, Gamble’s cousin, who was 16, was moved off of death row when the SCOTUS issued Roper. But here’s the kicker: When the Court was considering Roper, one of the arguments King made at the time was that it wouldn’t be fair for Presley, the shooter, to get off death row while Gamble stayed on. In his brief, he called this “a bizarre result.” Now, King is arguing the exact opposite: that Gamble deserves to die, that the courts should uphold the exact thing that he called “bizarre.”
Not only has he pulled a 180, but he attacked the Shelby County DA, saying he was “acting on the side of the criminal.”District Attorneys around the state were pissed. This post covers some of the fallout, including links to the Opinion pages around the state blasting King for being a moron and hypocrite.
The Gamble case isn’t the only cause for concern with regards to Alabama’s rush to kill. There’s also the case of Tommy Arthur. There appears to be some media attention being paid to the case, which is essentially asking the state to be sure. What’s the harm in testing? Amazingly, Gov. Bob Riley, a wildly pro-death penalty conservative, seemed to agree and granted a SUPER rare stay of execution to Arthur. Still, with someone like Troy King in the mix, Arthur knows that nothing is certain. Then again, if Troy King is the caliber of enemy you face, maybe there’s hope after all…
Not to add anything insightful, but I am quite glad I live nowhere near that political sink-hole any more. I find the most disheartening part of all of the political fiasco that Alabama has become is the fundamentalist religious movement’s convincing of Alabama’s citizens to vote against their interests. Until the Alabama government reflects the interests of the people, I don’t see how the institutionalized corruption can be addressed.
I guess I will have to wait for Stephen to provide that beacon of hope for my former home state. (Wait, did I just look to Stephen for HOPE?!?!?! That surely is a sign of the apocalypse!)
One paradox I fail to understand is that Troy King, and his side-kick, Clay Crenshaw, are both punting for victim’s rights in getting closure in death penalty cases. Yet, they fail to respect the wishes of the family of Troy Wicker to have DNA tested in the Thomas Artur case, in order for them to be sure that the right person is being executed and in order to get closure. Respecting victim’s rights? Nah, it’s the tail wagging the dog!
I think you hit the nail on the head: if you respect the “victim’s rights” then you don’t always look “tuff on crime.”
Not so much a paradox, rather heartless political pandering.
ABSOLUTELY, Dave!!! It’s all politics!! What with Bob’s 2010 Plan, where he won’t be able to run for Governor again, Troy must feather his nest before then, in order to run for Governor.
But, he has already p’d off the ABA, the DA Association, some victims’ families, some citizens of Bama and the Parole Board. Think he is going to stand a chance? I say “No!”. Wanna bet a beer?
How about I just buy you a beer straight up? I absolutely refuse to be on AL politics A) because I don’t live there any more and am not up on the insanity and B) because nothing I have ever witnessed in AL politics has EVER made sense to me.
No matter how many people are working against this guy, as long as he is “conservative” and “believes what we do,” he may well get elected. Don’t believe me? I have two words: Roy Moore.
Still, here’s hoping that Alabama politics undergo a substantial revolution.
Perhaps the revolution is underway! Roy Moore got smoked in his attempt to run for Governor. Perhaps the people of Alabama were not enchanted with the idea of a Bible waving, court order-defying lunatic in charge? I won’t speak to your first point and encourage you to move back, but as for your second, things will make sense … just keep reading the blog.
Well, I’ll definitely keep reading the blog, but I have to disagree with your argument about Roy Moore’s Gov campaign meaning a return to sanity for Alabama’s voters!
I’ll grant you that kicking the idiots out of office after they make massive mistakes is a move in the right direction, but in order for the electorate to function properly, these idiots have to be screened out the FIRST time around so that they do not ever get a chance to mess things up in the first place.
When I see that happening, then I will be optimistic. The fact that King even got elected in the first place is an argument against revolution. (Here is where I poke you and reference one of our previous discussions wherein I argued that voting is vital for political reform–remember that one?)
I see the Moore gov. smackdown as a blip on the radar.
I would love for you to be right in that the revolution is underway, and you are closer to the situation on the ground than I am, but from where I stand nothing looks to have changed in the years that I have been away.
(Damn, this is twice in a week that Stephen has been the optimistic one. Whatever is the world coming to?
)
Um, what’s with all the emoticons, guys?
Beer gladly accepted, Dave! Ray Moore? Nah, don’t think so. His stance on various issues could trip him up! He would have to make a lot of noise to get the majority behind him. If I was him, I would NOW already start nit-picking the system BIG TIME. He’s a civil-rights nightmare in the same way that Troy “I am the law” King is a legal nightmare! The issue that bugs me is that the politicians of Bama are trying to create an Utopia. It will never happen!! Signs of the times, as they say.
As a side note…the Alabama Supreme Court yesterday issued an order, setting the execution date of Thomas Arthur for December 6. Wanna bet another beer it doesn’t happen then and that the 11th stays it?