Editor’s note: The News Courier will interview as many candidates as possible leading up to the June 5 Republican and Democratic primaries.

Politics in Montgomery has never been what anyone would consider void of public scandal and corruption.

The last two years make that perfectly clear as a number of high-profile elected officials faced corruption charges.

Former Gov. Robert Bentley resigned in April after pleading guilty to misdemeanor campaign violations. Former House Speaker Mike Hubbard was found guilty of felony ethics charges in 2016. In September, former House Rep. Micky Hammon, R-Decatur pleaded guilty to a mail fraud scheme, which led to his automatic ouster from the House.

Also last year, State Rep. Oliver Robinson, D-Birmingham, pleaded guilty to a litany of federal charges, including tax evasion, conspiracy, bribery and fraud.

It’s a pattern that Alice Martin wants to see broken, and it’s why — among other reasons — she believes Alabamians should make her the state’s next Attorney General.

Background

Martin, who resides in Florence, served as chief deputy and deputy attorney general for five years. She left the post in August after deciding to run for AG. She was part of the team that prosecuted Hubbard’s case.

Prior to that, she served as a U.S. attorney and prosecuted more than 4,600 cases involving violations of federal firearms laws, narcotics, child pornography and other violent crimes. She founded the North Alabama Public Corruption Task Force with then Alabama AG Bill Pryor and obtained 140 federal corruption convictions, being named a “Top 10 Prosecutor in the U.S.” by Corporate Fraud Reporter.

The current AG is Steve Marshall of Marshall County, who was appointed to the post by Bentley after Bentley appointed former AG Luther Strange to the U.S. Senate. The Senate seat was vacated by Jeff Sessions, who now serves as U.S. Attorney General in the Trump administration.

The primaries for the 2018 elections will be Tuesday, June 5. Martin recently sat down with The News Courier to discuss why she’s the right candidate for Alabama attorney general.

On experience

“I believe my experience makes me uniquely qualified. I believe in the four C’s: Constitution, consumer protections, corruption and crime.”

Fighting corruption

“I don’t think you can prevent corruption, but you can take a tough stance and say we’re going to enforce the laws; we can put people on notice.

“I think the Legislature needs to focus on ethics reform because we’re four years removed from (Hubbard’s indictment) and (legislators) still want to talk about how our ethics laws are not clear. They are the people who make it clear.

“There are good people who are now concerned about serving on boards and associations and we owe it to them to paint those bright yellow lines. Prosecutors don’t like operating in gray areas.

“Special interest buys a lot of influence in Montgomery, but I’m not just interested in looking at corruption within the borders of Montgomery. I’m interested in looking at all the counties.”

Victim’s rights

“When your district attorney gets a conviction, whether by plea or trail, it becomes the responsibility of the AG’s office to handle the notification of victims. That’s the system is it currently is.

“Right now, there’s a disconnect (between the AG’s office and victims) because of the lack of an adequate system. The system hasn’t been fully implemented because the AG’s office doesn’t receive adequate information about victims in over 50 percent of the cases.

“On the front end, we want to do a better job about serving (victims) and make sure we have a stronger, more effective system.”

Constitutional rights

“I’m for religious liberties, the Second Amendment and 10th Amendment, or states’ rights. Those are important areas that are constantly being litigated.

“We have to be mindful about progressives and liberals who want sanctuary status for municipalities and counties. It’s shocking to my conscience that California would declare itself a sanctuary state, especially when you look at the crime statistics of areas that have been protecting (immigrants).”

Fighting the opioid crisis

“You can’t prosecute your way out of a drug epidemic; it takes a multidisciplined approach. We need help from physicians but we also need to better educate patients and also train law enforcement.

“Alabama has the highest rate of prescriptions than any other state in the nation. One thing the AG can do is to meet with the medical licensing board and say, ‘We have a problem here in Alabama, and here are some thoughts.’

“We may also need to look at continuing education (for physicians). As an attorney, I’m required to have 12 hours of continuing legal education per year and two hours of ethics training. How many physicians are doing that?

I think the AG’s office can help by trying to correct issues or fill holes. We do need more treatment facilities because this is not a ‘go cold turkey’ addiction.”

For more information about Martin, visit https://alicemartin.com.