Thank you for your work
Thank you for your work
Important. And follow @leahanelson.bsky.social for action steps Iβm this case
βAs a poor Black man in Alabama accused of killing a white woman, Myers had no choice but to accept the lawyer appointed to him by the court.
βRocky didnβt have a choice,β Bankston said. βHe got what he got.β
And what he got for a lawyer, she explained, was undeniably a Klansman.β
Crazy shit here, ya gotta take a minute
A Black man was convicted of murder despite no physical evidence. Even Gov. Kay Ivey thought the case was suspect enough to commute his death sentence. Turns out his court appointed attorney was a Klan member. Read @leehedgepeth.bsky.social for more. #Alabama
www.treadbylee.com/p/klonsel?ut...
βIβm getting out of here,β he said. βBut these things just take time.β
π«© He should have never been locked upβ¦
Consulted on this case before the clemency, did not know this. Had some questions about the case anyway, didn't seem right. Now it really doesn't seem right.
Rocky Myers, a Black man from Decatur, Alabama, is still locked up for a crime he didnβt commit. His lawyer, former corporate counsel for the United Klans of America, told me if he had to do it all over again, heβd seat an all-white jury this time. Please take a moment with this story.
Katieβs in Mid-City is delicious. Joey Kβs on Magazine is also great. Make sure to go down Frenchmen Street at night, not just Bourbon. Also highly recommend the art museum and the Ogden museum of southern art.
Rocky Myers, a Black man accused of murdering a white woman in Alabama, was represented at trial by a Klan lawyer named John Mays. He had no idea. 30 years later, he's still behind bars. Please take a moment to read and share. www.treadbylee.com/p/klonsel
A view of the night sky over the Alabama River in Roland Cooper State Park from Valentineβs Day weekend.
The late #JesseJackson knew how to inspire a crowd. He did it with an emphatic "Roll Tide" @uofalabama.bsky.social a few years back. Here's a bit of audio I recorded from the event.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ju0...
My latest in @insideclimatenews.org focuses on Trump's decision to allow coke ovens to pollute vulnerable communities unchecked. It's also partly a memorial to Charlie Powell, a longtime environmental advocate in Alabama. insideclimatenews.org/news/1102202...
Sonny Burton can no longer walk. His loved ones worry that, should the time come, prison staffers will have to roll the 75-year-old into the execution chamber on a gurney. One final indignity, they say, for a man who never killed a soul. Full story: www.treadbylee.com/p/charles-so...
#Alabama is preparing to execute a 75 year old man for a murder he didn't commit, while the *actual* killer is serving life in prison. @leehedgepeth.bsky.social exposes yet another injustice in our criminal "justice" system.
open.substack.com/pub/treadbyl...
If passed, itβs unclear whether the bill would improve the design of gas cans to Moore's liking. In the last two decades, designs have changed because of other, bipartisan legislation, including the Childrenβs Gasoline Burn Prevention Act. Full story: insideclimatenews.org/news/2801202...
A scoop from me for @insideclimatenews.org. Another day, another Alabama data center. The rep for this developer wouldn't even provide the company name. The mayor of Childersburg emphasized he didn't sign an NDA. He signed a "confidentiality agreement" instead. insideclimatenews.org/news/2301202...
View in browser Support our nonprofit journalism Climate Desk Newsletter STORIES FROM MOTHER JONES AND ITS PARTNERS Who gets to decide whether oil companies have to pay for their role in coastal destruction? Thatβs the big question at the center of Chevron USA, Inc. v. Plaquemines Parish, a case that my colleague Marianne Lavelle and I wrote about this past week for Inside Climate News. It stems from a landmark $745 million verdict handed down by a Louisiana jury in April 2025, wherein jurors found Chevron liable for decades of erosion of the stateβs coastline and wetlands. It and other oil companies appealed the verdict all the way to the US Supreme Court, which heard arguments in the case on Monday.
Who gets to decide whether oil companies have to pay for their role in coastal destruction?
That was the question last week in front of the Supreme Court. Read the full dispatch, covered in our weekly newsletter, by @leehedgepeth.bsky.social:
link.motherjones.com/view/647e4ef...
Have you ever read an NDA between a mayor and a data center developer? Now you can. New from me in @insideclimatenews.org. insideclimatenews.org/news/1701202...
Y'all can read the official statement in the article, but just know that my first reaction isn't fit to print. Unbelievable levels of arrogance for a city council to give residents the run-around for a year, then come right back and subject them to it again. π€¬
The developer of a $14.5 billion hyperscale data center in Alabama is requesting the rezoning of an additional 900 acres, more than doubling the expected footprint of the massive project. Full story from @insideclimatenews.org: insideclimatenews.org/news/1401202...
Louisiana has lost more than 2,000 square miles of land in the last century, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Will oil companies have to pay up? New from
@insideclimatenews.org. insideclimatenews.org/news/1201202...
Via Lee Hedgepeth & Inside Climate News: Many climate scientists say that the Trump administrationβs plan to leave the IPCC and withdraw from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change damages the scientific community and the United Statesβ reputation. https://ow.ly/HBW250XU4ze
I interviewed climate scientists for @insideclimatenews.org about Trump abandoning climate change agreements. I also spoke to Alabama's climate change-denying state climatologist, who said NY & CA are headed to "the Dark Ages" bc of commitments to renewables. insideclimatenews.org/news/0801202...
Via Lee Hedgepeth: An Inside Climate News review of Alabama Power's emergency action plans shows that hundreds of square miles of land and waterways would be at risk of inundation in the event of a breach of the barriers holding back toxic waste at six sites in the state. https://ow.ly/kMWQ50XSGru
Cleo King said he prays about every vote he takes as a city councilor in Bessemer, Alabama. Here's what he said about his vote against a massive data center. New from
@insideclimatenews.org. Full story: insideclimatenews.org/news/1811202...
Alabama will move heaven and earth to protect a football programβs win record.
But fans passing out in the stands?
Dozens of heat calls a game?
Concrete at 130Β°?
We get cooling stations and a βhydrateβ reminder.
Game times and TV money stay untouched.
insideclimatenews.org/news/1611202...
An @insideclimatenews.org analysis found temps in football stadiums can spike for hours, from 10 to 16 degrees higher than outside...Auburn averaged over 100 emergency calls per game in 2024, the majority being heat-related. insideclimatenews.org/news/1611202...
Temperatures inside southern football stadiums can be 10 to 16 degrees higher than outside the facilities, leaving spectators at elevated risk of heat injury. A new story on scorching Saturdays from @insideclimatenews.org. insideclimatenews.org/news/1611202...
Via Lee Hedgepeth, Dennis Pillion & Inside Climate News: With the Bessemer City Council scheduled to vote Tuesday on a βhyperscaleβ data center, challenges from an environmental group and the Alabama Department of Transportation present potential obstacles for the project. https://ow.ly/YQAk50XrPy6