MONTGOMERY – Attorney General Luther Strange has joined an amicus brief, filed by the State of West Virginia and joined also by 19 other Attorneys General, to protect Second Amendment rights.
The brief was filed in the case of Kolbe v. O’Malley in opposition to a restrictive gun law passed by the State of Maryland in 2013. The Attorneys General are asking the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit to reverse a decision by the U.S. District Court of Maryland, which had ruled in favor of the state’s ban on numerous guns.
“The State of Maryland has enacted a law that severely restricts the ability of anyone in that State to possess or transfer a number of commonly owned firearms,” the Attorneys General said in the amicus brief. “The ban includes some of the most widely owned rifles in the United States, including the AR-15. The law also bans the manufacture, sale, purchase, receipt or transfer of detachable magazines that hold more than 10 rounds—the standard magazines on most modern handguns.”
The Attorneys General assert that “the weapons banned by the Maryland law fall within the protection of the Second Amendment because they are typically possessed for lawful purposes, including the core protected purpose of self-defense.”
Attorney General Strange stated, “This brief is about protecting the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens to bear arms in the defense of themselves and their families. I, and other Attorneys General, believe these fundamental rights deserve the highest protection and that Maryland’s gun ban is unconstitutional under principles the Supreme Court has already established.”
In addition to Alabama, the States joining West Virginia in the amicus brief are Alaska, Arizona, Florida, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah and Wyoming.
Ohatchee Man Sentenced to 20 Years in Prison for Child Exploitation
BIRMINGHAM – A federal judge has sentenced an Ohatchee man to 20 years in prison for receiving, possessing and distributing child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance and the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency.
U.S. District Judge Abdul K. Kallon sentenced Kendall Adam Hester, 29, on the child pornography charges. A federal jury convicted Hester in August. He has remained in custody since his conviction. Judge Kallon ordered Hester to remain on supervised release for 20 years following completion of his prison term.
Hester searched the Internet and downloaded child pornography using peer-to-peer computer software, according to court records. In December 2012, law enforcement agents found 342 videos of child pornography on a computer and compact disks at Hester’s home. The videos showed graphic sexual acts involving children under age 12, some as young as 2 or 3 years old, and included sadistic sexual acts involving bondage, according court documents.
The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorneys Chinelo Dike-Minor and Daniel J. Fortune prosecuted.
