What happens to a business run by Christians?

[Legion Troll]

She's been called a crook.

A con artist.

A snake in the grass.

The only thing that really matters to state regulators is that she calls herself a Christian. In 16 states, day cares that claim to be religious get a pass on certain licensing rules.

She ran a church day care from a decrepit warehouse that one worker called a "house out of a horror movie."

She opened another child care center next to a porn store.

Each of her day cares has been dogged by complaints of abuse and neglect.

Police, county health officials, building inspectors, city council members and throngs of angry parents and former employees have done everything in their limited power to shut down Stokes for good.

All of them have failed.

Reporters found no evidence that Stokes' church, which she founded, holds services. The ministry's address changes often, to Stokes' new day care or her rental home. But by saying that her day cares are religious, she has remained virtually untouchable for a decade.

She has been arrested multiple times, for crimes ranging from theft to child endangerment.

In total, Deborah Stokes has operated at least a dozen Christian day cares.

Every time she is chased out of town by furious parents, workers or landlords, she reopens in the next town over.

In the process, she has collected at least $86,000 in taxpayer funding to run her day cares with almost no oversight.

She doesn't need a license.

She doesn't need a curriculum or qualified workers.

All she needs is a building and a piece of paper saying she runs a church.

The religious exemption has become a safe haven for dangerous day care operators who can't stay out of trouble. Combing through records around the country, at least 80 operators have been identified who rebranded themselves as religious – sometimes just days after regulators took the extreme step of shutting down their licensed day cares.



http://www.al.com/news/index.ssf/2016/04/alabama_woman_keeps_resurrecti.html#incart_most-read_news_article

 

[Leonthecat]

Alabama woman keeps resurrecting shoddy day cares in God's name

She's been called a crook. A con artist. A snake in the grass. But in Alabama, the only thing that really matters to state regulators is that she calls herself a Christian.

She ran a church day care from a decrepit warehouse that one worker called a "house out of a horror movie." She opened another child care center next to a porn store.

Each of her day cares has been dogged by complaints of abuse and neglect. Workers said she hit children with flyswatters, locked them in closets or rapped them with rulers. She's failed to pay so many employees that one reportedly slapped her in the face and another threatened to hurl a pickle jar at her, according to police reports.

She has been arrested multiple times, for crimes ranging from theft to child endangerment.

Alabama day cares
Deborah Stokes, seen in a mug shot, has operated a string of church day cares across southern Alabama even though she has been arrested multiple times.

In total, Deborah Stokes has operated at least a dozen Christian day cares across southern Alabama. Every time she is chased out of town by furious parents, workers or landlords, she reopens in the next town over. In the process, she has collected at least $86,000 in taxpayer funding to run her day cares with almost no oversight.

She doesn't need a license. She doesn't need a curriculum or qualified workers. All she needs is a building with a roof, desperate parents and a piece of paper saying she runs a church.

In 16 states, day cares that claim to be religious get a pass on certain licensing rules. Alabama offers religious day cares the most freedom of any state, shielding them from most government oversight.

Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting found no evidence that Stokes' church, which she founded, holds services or performs outreach. The ministry's address changes often, to Stokes' new day care or her rental home. But by saying that her day cares are religious, she has remained virtually untouchable for a decade.

Police, county health officials, building inspectors, city council members and throngs of angry parents and former employees have done everything in their limited power to shut down Stokes for good.

All of them have failed.

"I wouldn't trust her with a glow stick, let alone a child," said Kimberly Nicole Hinman, a former employee at one of Stokes' day cares. "But she says she's a Christian, and people trust her."

A Reveal investigation found that the religious exemption has become a safe haven for dangerous day care operators who can't stay out of trouble. Combing through records around the country, we identified at least 80 operators who rebranded themselves as religious – sometimes just days after regulators took the extreme step of shutting down their licensed day cares. In Alabama, 13 day care operators lost their licenses from 2004 to 2014; three reopened as religious entities. After that, the trio faced almost no oversight:

http://www.al.com/news/index.ssf/2016/04/alabama_woman_keeps_resurrecti.html

 

[Legion Troll]

Isn't Alabama a Republican-run state, Brother Leon?

 

[Leonthecat]

Isn't Alabama a Republican-run state, Brother Leon?

I believe it is Brother Legion.
And it seems they intend to keep it that way.



Voting in Alabama May Have Gotten Even More Difficult for Black Residents

On Wednesday, the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency announced that it would be eliminating 31 driver’s license satellite offices due to an $11 million budget shortfall in state funding.

What the agency did not make known in its announcement is none of the counties in which Black people make up more than 75 percent of registered voters will have driver’s license offices any longer. These offices, according to AL.com, were operated by part-time examiners and were not state-owned. Knowing that, it’s hard not to see this decision as intentionally burdening already-burdened people.

In 2011, Alabama passed a law requiring people to present a government-issued photo ID before voting, claiming that it would prevent fraud. But in-person voter fraud, which these voter ID laws are intended to combat, is extremely rare.

In fact, the Alabama GOP has had a difficult time finding any evidence of organized voter fraud. During Alabama’s primaries last June, Alabama Republicans offered a $1,000 reward to anyone with information that led to voter fraud convictions. A statement released by the Alabama GOP after the June primaries indicated that some evidence of voter fraud had been reported. Notably, however, none of the reported violations could have been prevented by a voter ID requirement.

https://rewire.news/article/2015/10/02/voting-alabama-may-gotten-even-difficult-black-residents/

 

[Legion Troll]

It's not like Alabama has a history of racism in government or anything, is it, Brother Leon?

 

[Leonthecat]