By Brandon Moseley
Alabama Political Reporter
Thursday, March 16, 2017, Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall (R) spoke to the St. Clair County Republican Party in Moody.
Marshall is the newly appointed Attorney General, whom Governor Robert Bentley (R) appointed to the post after appointing AG Luther Strange (R) to the United States Senate creating the vacancy.
St. Clair County District Attorney Richard Minor (R) said that Steve Marshall is one of my best friends. “Of all the prosecutors in the state of Alabama Gov. Bentley chose the best prosecutor in the State of Alabama,” to be Attorney General.
AG Marshall said, “The best DA in Alabama resides in St. Clair County. Thank y’all for letting me come. The greatest privilege of my life was to be the DA of Marshall County and serve with men who do not know retreat (referring to Law Enforcement officers). It has been a whirlwind five weeks.”
AG Marshall said, “I am a prosecutor. That is the world I come from and how I think.” “I am passionate about the idea of justice.” Marshall said that his life verse is Micah 6:8.
Marshall went on to recount several of his toughest casts as a prosecutor including prosecuting a mother and her boyfriend for abusing her child to death. “That mom and that boyfriend got to go to jail for the rest of their lives.” Marshall said that he has seen drug court change the lives of people.
Marshall said, “I am not a policy maker my job is to enforce it (the law) whatever it may be.”
Marshall said that he prosecuted a popular member of the Marshall County community after he ran over a woman drug dealer. It was not a popular case; but he brought is anyway because, “She didn’t deserve to be a victim of murder.”
The new AG said, “We are going to do the right thing the right way no matter what.”
Marshall recounted another time where a stripper, a drug addict, a thief, and a body piercer with piercings all over her body each were telling similar tales about a local Law Enforcement officer. They all claimed that the officer agreed to help them; but they had to agree to give something in return (sexual favors appeared to be the implied payment).
Marshall said that going after local law enforcement was not a popular decision in the community. “Many in that community felt we did not do the right thing. We did the right thing.”
Marshall said, “I met Robert Bentley three times before he appointed me, but I don’t work for Robert Bentley. I proved that when appointed a special prosecutor to look into whether or not Bentley did something wrong. I am the 48th Attorney General in Alabama and, I will either be the shortest tenured AG in Alabama History or the longest.” I have been told that if this does not work out I can go do traffic tickets in Marshall county.
Marshall said that he has sued California because they said that the only eggs which can be sold there must be from cage free hens running free range, that locked some Alabama egg farms out of the California market. “Today I signed on with other states in support of the travel ban,” ordered by President Donald J. Trump (R).
Marshall said that when he became Attorney General he told the attorneys and staff there to get a little better every day and challenged them to be like Nehemiah. Nehemiah has a job full of prestige and privilege as the King of Persia’s cupbearer; but he set aside that in order to make a difference in the lives of a lot of people, by rebuilding Jerusalem and constructing the second temple.
St. Clair Republican Party Chairman Lance Bell presented Marshall with the book: “Reasons to Vote for a Democrat” which contained a cover and a book full of empty pages.
St. Clair County Sheriff’s Deputy Freddie Turrentine reminded everyone that the Republican Party bass tournament is on Saturday at Logan Martin Lake. 48 boats are expected to participate this year. Last year the Party was able to award $8000 to $9000 in scholarships to deserving St. Clair County students. We have been doing this for 22 years. The boats go in the water before dawn and weigh in is at 3:00 pm.
Ren Wheeler motioned that the party itself spend $1000 to sponsors a boat for the bass tournament. That motion carried. There are still sponsorship opportunities available.
State Representative Jim Hill (R from Odenville) said of this week in the Alabama legislature, “We passed the General Fund Budget out of the House this week and the Senate is working on the ETF (Education Trust Fund). We are trying to carry over $90 million (from the 2017 budget to the 2018 budget). This is mostly the money from the BP settlement.”
Rep. Hill said that the state has a total Medicaid expenditure of $800 million out of a $1.8 billion budget. Hill said of Medicaid, “They are the elephant in the room.”
