Problems with the injunction, however, do not end there; it also runs afoul of the Alabama Constitution.
Alabama often gets tagged as a backward state, but the state constitution takes a progressive stand on free-speech matters.
Powerful support for free speech is found in Article 1, Section 4, which states in part:
"No law shall ever be passed to curtail or restrain the liberty of speech or of the press; and any person may speak, write, and publish his sentiments on all subjects, being responsible for the abuse of that liberty."
We have found at least two cases where that sentiment was used to overturn prior restrictions on speech in Alabama. That means that the civil contempt finding and resulting incarceration in my case was contrary not only to fundamental Bill of Rights law at the national level, but it also appears to conflict with the Alabama Constitution's powerful language to ensure free speech.