Alabama city recalls ‘bathroom bill’ that would have punished violations with up to six months in ja
Source: Washington Post
A week after a small city in Alabama passed its own bathroom ordinance that threatened violators with up to six months in jail, officials there backed away from the measure and recalled it during a meeting Wednesday.
While debates over “bathroom bills” restricting who can use public restrooms have cropped up across the country, spurred on by a high-profile measure in North Carolina, the ordinance in Oxford, Ala., appeared to take things a step further. The Human Rights Campaign said the Oxford ordinance was “unprecedented” for the criminal penalties it described.
However, the council members had gathered Wednesday to discuss recalling the ordinance. They voted to recall it shortly before 3 p.m. local time, according to reporters at the hearing and the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Last week, the Oxford City Council voted to adopt a measure making it a crime for people to use a public bathroom or changing facility different from the one on their birth certificate. People deemed to be violating the law could be punished with up to six months behind bars or a $500 fine.
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Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2016/05/04/alabama-city-may-reconsider-bathroom-bill-that-punishes-violations-with-up-to-six-months-in-jail/
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