Alabama AG Steve Marshall Loses Major Abortion-Related Case
- Donald V. Watkins
- Apr 1
- 2 min read
By: Donald V. Watkins
Copyrighted and Published on April 1, 2025
An Editorial Opinion
In the aftermath of the U.S. Supreme Court case in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization (2022) that paved the way for states to impose near-total bans on abortion, Alabama Attorney Steve Marshall threatened criminal prosecution of any person or group promoting and/or facilitating out-of-state abortions in states where this medical procedure is legal.
Yesterday, a U.S. District Court in Montgomery, Alabama ruled that Marshall’s threat of criminal prosecution constitutes an unconstitutional restriction on the plaintiffs’ right to travel and freedom of speech. The Court’s March 31, 2025, 131-page ruling is linked here.
This ruling is a high-profile defeat for Marshall, who is on a losing streak in major constitutional law cases. On June 8, 2023, Marshall lost the Allen v. Milligan voting rights case in the ultra-conservative U.S. Supreme Court. As a result, Alabama gained a second Black Congressional member in the 2024 elections.
In yesterday's right to travel case, the Court stated that Marshall’s legal arguments contravened "history, precedent, and common sense." (Page 67). That’s the Court’s charitable way of saying Marshall’s legal arguments were dumb.
Steve Marshall was initially appointed as Attorney General by disgraced former Governor Robert Bentley in April 2017 in the governor's effort to escape criminal liability on ethics charges in his “sex-for-power” scandal. Bentley scoured the state for the weakest and most inexperienced prosecutor he could appoint as Attorney General. The search yielded Marshall County District Attorney Steve Marshall, who possessed a “powder-puff” resume and marginal list of greatly embellished “achievements.”
Inside Alabama political circles, Steve Marshall is generally considered to be weaker and dumber than former state Attorney General/U.S. Senator/U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions. President Donald Trump fired Sessions in November 2018 after he proved to be dumb and disloyal.
Marshall, whose appointment as Attorney General resulted strictly from a pure act of “Good Ol’ Boys affirmative action,” has amassed a distinguished record of (a) avoiding criminal prosecutions of corrupt corporate executives and dangerous street gangs, (b) violating constitutional rights, and (c) losing high-profile civil cases. Marshall rarely stands up for the rights of any person outside of a mother's womb.
Steve Marshall is making a lot of plaintiff's lawyers rich in cases where the state of Alabama repeatedly violates the constitutional rights of its citizens. Marshall can't win them. The taxpayers must then pay the attorney's fees and court cost of these winning plaintiffs. That's what happens when voters elect intellectually-challenged people to public office and these officeholders make dumb decisions.