An Alabama woman who had her adoption rights stripped by the state Supreme Court is now turning to the highest court in the nation.
The woman identified as V.L. adopted her long-term partner’s three children in Georgia. When the couple later split, the biological mother prevented V.L. from seeing her children. V.L. asked Alabama's Supreme court for help. Instead, the justices invalidated her adoptions.
Cathy Sakimura is an attorney with the National Center for Lesbian Rights and represents the woman. She says what Alabama’s Supreme Court did was unprecedented.
“Instead of recognizing that they just needed to respect that adoption under the Constitution, they started looking into the law that was applied by the Georgia adoption court back in 2007, and decided they disagreed with how that law was applied, and then decided that allowed them to not recognize the adoption.”
Sakimura says the decision has dangerous implications for ANY state court order.
The Tuscaloosa Police Department has released body camera footage from a recent arrest near the University of Alabama in which officers were recorded using a stun gun and baton.
Police Chief Steven Anderson says authorities met with attorneys representing the three students who were arrested Nov. 8 when police were called to investigate a noise complaint.
Residents of the building where the arrests took place say several students had been celebrating Alabama's football win over LSU.
Earlier videos showed police forcing their way into an apartment and pulling three people out after an argument. More video shows officers hitting one student with a stun gun and then repeatedly beating him with a baton.
Three officers involved in the arrests were put on paid administrative leave soon after the incident occurred.
This week is National Career Development Week, and thousands of Alabamians are currently looking for work.
The most recent figures show the state of Alabama continuing to hover at 6 percent unemployment, a full percentage point higher than the national average. Governor Robert Bentley says he will continue to defer his salary until unemployment reaches 5.2%.
Dr. Lisa Andrews is the manager of the Certified Financial Planners’ Career Center. She says the biggest mistake job hunters make is not customizing their application to the job they’re applying for.
“So, a one-size-fits-all cover letter and resume really aren’t going to work in this economy. You really have to tailor them to the job you’re applying to, and make sure that you’re presenting yourself in the best light so they will be more inclined to bring you into the interview, which will eventually get you the job if you do well.”
The state of Alabama offers a variety of job hunting and career development services at JobLink.alabama.gov.