Over the past four years during my travels and speaking events over the state, the most-asked question posed to me has been: “Why in the world is Mike Hubbard not in jail?”
It was four years ago in June 2016 that Hubbard, the former speaker of the Alabama House of Representatives, was convicted of a dozen counts of violating state ethics laws by a jury of his peers in Lee County.
The most inquiring and astonished groups have been Republican-laden clubs like Rotarians. They have been indignant, vocally, about the imbalance of the criminal justice system toward white-collar political criminals, as opposed to those who are general thieves and assailants.
Comments were generally laced with skepticism that Hubbard would ever serve a day in jail.
Well, it looks like his day of reckoning may be coming near. He will eventually serve four years in an Alabama jail. Folks, that is not quite the ride that serving four years in a federal “country club” prison would be.
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In April, the Alabama Supreme Court finally gave a clarified verdict on the 2016 conviction. The court upheld six of the 12 convictions handed down in Lee County. It reversed five others and remanded the case back to the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals, which had previously reversed one of the convictions.
Chief Justice Tom Parker wrote in the majority opinion: “We must interpret and apply the law. And every person accused of breaking the law — even one who had a hand in creating that law — is entitled to the same rules of legal interpretation. When charged with a crime, public officials must be treated no better — and no worse — than other citizens in this state, where all are guaranteed equal justice under the law.”
Hubbard may find further routes of delay; however, he will go to jail.
This ends an era of corruption inherent during the Bob Riley era as governor. Hubbard and Riley were well-known to be best friends. There were numerous taped conversations between Riley and Hubbard used by prosecutors at the trial. During that reign, it appeared that it was open season on lobbyists in pay-to-play scenarios. Part of the team was the Business Council of Alabama backroom power player Bill Canary.
This Hubbard/Riley/Canary triumvirate is forever gone from Goat Hill. There is still a lingering perception that Riley is still calling shots from the sidelines of today’s political campaigns and world. Folks, that is a misnomer. As a lobbyist, Riley is able to get some campaign money for certain candidates from his friends and benefactors, the Indian gambling interests. However, his influence in state politics is insignificant. He is not the power behind the throne that is sometimes perceived. There were whispers that he had influence and even control over the state Supreme Court. This Hubbard decision dispels that myth.
As unsavory as Canary had become, the breath of fresh air brought to the BCA by Katie Britt is significant, to say the least, if not monumental. Britt, the young, vibrant CEO of the council exudes not only energy but vast integrity and openness. She is twice as smart as most people on the block and 10 times more honest and upfront with folks. She projects an image that makes business folks in Alabama proud to be a part of government in our state.
Britt revealed brilliant leadership recently when she initiated and orchestrated a BCA telethon on Alabama Public Television. They had volunteer lawyers, accountants and other experts on the phone answering questions about how to apply for federal programs in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis. The governor, the lieutenant governor, and the attorney general appeared as guests on the show. Also appearing was the legendary leader of the National Federation of Small Businesses in the state, Rosemary Elebash, who has been a brilliant, hardworking leader for Alabama’s small business owners for decades.
See you next week.