Troy King

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Troy King
Alabama Attorney General
Incumbent
Assumed office
2004
Current term ends
2010
Political party Republican
Website Official Alabama Attorney General website

Contents

Troy Robin King (born August 22, 1968, in Elba, Alabama) is the current Republican Attorney General of Alabama. He was originally appointed to the position by Governor Bob Riley in 2004 following the resignation of William Pryor to accept a federal judgeship.

Education

  • Bachelor's degree, Troy State University (1990) in history and social sciences
  • Juris Doctorate degree, University of Alabama School of Law (1994)

Professional experience

In the midst of the 2005 state legislative session, King made headlines wearing an electronic monitoring bracelet of the kind used by parolees and others under judicial monitoring. He promised to wear the bracelet until the state legislature passed tougher monitoring laws for parolees and convicted sex offenders; he removed it when said laws were finally passed. King's strong opposition to gambling was a central theme in his administration first elected term in office. In 2006, King requested that the United States Department of the Interior to deny an application filed by the Poarch Creek Band of Indians to expand their gaming operations in the state of Alabama. He later filed suit against the Department to keep it from pressuring Alabama to permit video gaming on Alabama Indian reservations.

King remained a staunch supporter of the 2008 presidential campaign of Arizona Senator John McCain early on in the Republican primary contest at a time when "many of McCain's supporters in other states were reassessing their commitments." [1] The Alabama Attorney General had been rumored to be a possible candidate in the state's gubernatorial contest in 2010, but opted instead to run for re-election in his current position.

Other roles

  • Member, Alabama Law Institute (1994-present)
  • Member, Alternative Dispute Resolution Task Force (1998-1999)
  • Member, Governor's Long-Range Disaster Recovery and Avoidance Task Force (1998-1999)
  • Member, Alabama Children's Policy Council
  • Member, Alabama State Bar
  • Member, Deacon, First Baptist Church in Montgomery

Controversies

Castaldo affidavit

In late-2007, Anthony Castaldo, a former investigator with the state's attorney general's office who had been charged with perjury by District Attorney David Barber, submitted an affidavit accusing King of having ordered him to investigate a Birmingham-area judge for political reasons. Castaldo alleged further that he was later punished after a year-long investigation turned up no evidence of wrongdoing. Castaldo was later acquitted.

Gamble death sentence

King, a staunch proponent of the death penalty, continued to seek the setting of execution dates in Alabama at a time when several states voluntarily suspended executions during United States Supreme Court litigation over lethal injection. In 2007, Robert E. Owens, a Shelby County district attorney, supported commutation of the death sentence for twenty-nine year old LaSamuel Gamble, an accomplice in a case where the actual shooter had escaped the death penalty following a United States Supreme Court ruling that argued that "it was unconstitutional to impose capital punishment on defendants who were under 18 at the time of their crimes." King, in rebuking Owens, said that he "had acted on the side of the criminal" [2] and notified him that he was seeking to reinstate the death penalty. Critics of the Alabama Attorney General believed the decision was politically motivated. Despite the controversy, King received the support of the victim's family in addition to state death penalty supporters for his stance in the case.

Gay affair rumor

The liberal blogosphere buzzed over the speculation in July 2008 that Troy King was expected to resign as the state's attorney general. [3] The "thinly sourced" [4] reason for King's anticipated resignation announcement was that he had been caught by his wife in bed with a young male aide and had been kicked out of his house. The only media outlets that ran with the story were left-leaning blogs, among them Glynn Wilson's The Locust Fork News-Journal and the celebrity gossip rag Perez Hilton, who had political axes to grind and were "itching for a reason to go after King" following the sex toy ban case.

Shortly after it was originally posted, Glynn Wilson at The Locust Folk News-Journal backed down from the accusations, if only ever so slightly. Wilson insisted that he was not concerned whether or not King was gay; he simply wanted this episode to serve as a "lesson for those who use personal attacks on people’s sexuality for political purposes" [5]

Brian at Flashpoint noted the irony in the reported glee certain Democrats enjoyed, particularly in this case, in accusing Republican politicians of being gay. He points out how at odds their self-proclaimed values like tolerance are with their "use [of] shouts of “he’s gay!” as weapons against political adversaries [are,] as though being gay was despicable." [6]

Gifts

In early 2007, The Birmingham News published an investigative article revealing that King and a choir group from his church had accepted free tickets, food, and skybox access to an Atlanta Braves baseball game from the Alabama Power Company the previous season. Alabama Power had not reported the gifts to the appropriate ethics agencies, as required, until contacted by the News. King insisted that "Alabama Power offered him the tickets because his church choir had been asked to sing the national anthem," though they eventually cancelled the performance. The Birmingham News chastised King whose responsibility they say was to represent Alabama Power customers before the Alabama Public Service Commission. King, though he reimbursed Alabama Power $486 for his family's food, denied any wrongdoing in the matter and argued that it was the responsibility of Alabama Power to have reported the matter in the first place.

Federal prosecutors, in May 2009, "subpoenaed records seeking information about King's travel, purchases and any gifts he might have received while in office." [7] King has not been accused of a crime. The Alabama Attorney General's office is cooperating with federal authorities, but have thus far been kept in the dark about the nature of the investigation.

Sex toy ban

King replaced William Pryor as the defendant in the Williams v. Morgan (2007) case following his appointment in 2004. The case came about as a result of the ACLU filing suit on behalf of individual users and vendors of sexual devices to enjoin the enforcement of the Anti-Obscenity Enforcement Act of 1998, an Alabama statute that prohibits the sale of any “device designed or marketed as useful primarily for the stimulation of human genital organs." [8] They based their argument primarily on the ruling of the Lawrence vs. Texas (2003) Supreme Court case, "which decriminalized gay sex on privacy grounds, [which they believe] protects sex toy users from unwarranted state intrusion in their homes." The Atlanta-based 11th United States Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against the ACLU believing that "siding with the sex toy merchants could open the door to the legalization of undesirable sexual behavior such as prostitution." [9] Although they appealed to the United States Supreme Court, they refused to hear the case. King argued that as the state's attorney general he must defend the law.

King's position has received extensive criticism from gay rights activists and social libertarians. Loretta Nall, failed 2006 Alabama gubernatorial candidate and founder of the United States Marijuana Party (USMJP), organized a sex toy drive to encourage people to mail sex toys to the Alabama Attorney General. [10]

Campaign contributions

2006 Race for Attorney General - Campaign Contributions
Total Raised $2,184,495
Total Raised by Primary Opponent $39,481
Total Raised by Gen. Election Opponent $1,442,794
Top 5 Contributors Republican State Leadership Committee $225,000 (10.3% of Total)
Associated Builders and Contractors of Alabama $77,081 (3.53%)
Vend PAC $73,500 (3.36%)
Franklin PAC $70,000 (3.20%)
Business Council of Alabama $65,000 (2.98%)
Individuals v. Institutions $514,245 (23.5%)
$1,386,636 (63.5%)
In v. Outside State $1,850,614 (84.9%)
$329,526 (15.1%)

Electoral history

2006

2006 Race for Attorney General - Republican Primary Election
Candidates Percentage
Troy King (R) 74.7%
Mark Montiel (R) 25.3%
Total votes 394,346
2006 Race for Attorney General - General Election
Candidates Percentage
Troy King (R) 53.0%
John Tyson, Jr. (D) 46.8%
Write Ins 0.2%
Total votes 1,231,096

Family life

King currently resides in Elba, Alabama with his wife, Paige, and their three children - Briggs, Colden, and Asher. He is also a practicing Baptist.

Contact info

Office of the Attorney General
500 Dexter Avenue
Montgomery, AL 36130

Phone: 334-242-7300

External links

References

  1. ↑ Alabama Live "AG Troy King hangs with McCain through thin and thick" 31 Aug. 2008
  2. ↑ New York Times "Prosecutor Who Opposed a Death Sentence Is Rebuked" 15 Sept. 2007
  3. ↑ Left in Alabama "Attorney General Troy King Resigns?" 9 July, 2008
  4. ↑ Political Parlor "Exploding AG Rumors" 11 July, 2008
  5. ↑ The Locust Folk News-Journal "Alabama Attorney General Troy King Prepares to Resign?" 9 July, 2008
  6. ↑ Flashpoint "The Troy King rumor mill" 11 July, 2008
  7. ↑ Alabama Live "U.S. attorney seeks records from Alabama Attorney General Troy King in wide-ranging subpoena" 13 May, 2009
  8. ↑ Open Jurist - Williams v. Morgan (2007)
  9. ↑ USA Today "High court declines to review Alabama's sex-toys ban" 22 Feb. 2005
  10. ↑ Loretta Nail "Sex Toys for Troy King" 12 Nov. 2007


Political offices
Preceded by
William H. Pryor, Jr. 		Alabama Attorney General
2004–present 		Succeeded by
NA
v • d • e
State Attorneys General
   
Attorney General elections, 2010
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