Laws affect death penalty cases, historic structures, party primary voting

Alabama lawmakers introduced more than 1,000 bills during the legislative session that ended May 19. The vast majority did not pass, and many of those that did were local bills, affecting a single county, city or town. But some bills of statewide impact did pass, and will change the law on death penalty cases, health insurance coverage, voting in party primaries and other areas. Below are some of the new laws. Photo shows the House of Representatives earlier this year. (Julie Bennett/jbennett@al.com)

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Faith-based adoption agencies

House Bill 24 says the state cannot refuse to license child adoption agencies for setting policies based on religious beliefs, such as not placing children with same-sex couples. The law does not apply to agencies that receive state or federal funding. The file photo, taken in 2005, shows Dutch gay couple Jos and Jarko De Witte van Leeuwen, who were then about to adopt a child from the United States. (AP Photo/Serge Ligtenberg)

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Teen drivers

House Bill 29 increases the penalties for teen drivers who hold restricted licenses and violate the restrictions, such as driving after midnight or with too many passengers. Parents who knowingly allow their teens to violate the restrictions can be fined if there are repeat offenses. Cumberland Valley (Pa.) High School student Seth Krause, 16, practices parallel parking in South Middleton Township, Pa. (Photo by Dan Gleiter/The Patriot-News)

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Excessive force by police

House Bill 50 requires the Alabama Criminal Justice Information Center to collect information on allegations of the use of excessive force by state, county and city police, including the race of the officer and victim, and present annual reports to the Legislature on the information it collects. People protest in response to the grand jury's decision in the Eric Garner case in Times Square in New York, Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2014. The grand jury cleared the white New York City police officer Wednesday in the videotaped choke-hold death of Garner, an unarmed black man, who had been stopped on suspicion of selling loose, untaxed cigarettes, a lawyer for the victim's family said. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

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Sky lanterns

House Bill 59 makes it illegal to release sky lanterns within 500 yards of a public gathering. Sky lanterns are free-floating and use an open flame to rise like a hot-air balloon. Dozens of people gathered around Thrasher Fountain to light luminaries and release 100 sky lanterns in recognition of World AIDS Day in Big Spring International Park in Huntsville on Dec. 1, 2013. (Eric Schultz / eschultz@al.com)

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Health care rights of conscience

House Bill 95 prohibits firing, demoting or otherwise penalizing a health care worker for refusing to participate in abortion, human cloning, human embryonic stem cell research or sterilization. The health care worker must provide written notice of their objection in advance. The law does not apply to abortion clinics. Trays of human embryonic stem cells at the University of Michigan Center for Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research Laboratory in Ann Arbor, Mich., are shown in this 2008 file photo. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

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Assisted suicide

House Bill 96 makes it a felony to deliberately assist someone in committing suicide. That includes a doctor who prescribes a drug or performs a procedure to aid in dying. The crime is a Class C felony, punishable by up to 10 years in prison. Assisted suicide advocate Jack Kevorkian, wearing blue sweater, standing next to his attorney Mayer Morganroth, far right, leaves the Lakeland Correctional Facility in Coldwater, Mich., in 2007. Kevorkian, the retired pathologist dubbed "Dr. Death" after claiming he had participated in at least 130 assisted suicides, was leaving prison after eight years. He died in 2011. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio, pool)

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Right to life of unborn

House Bill 98 is a proposed amendment to the state Constitution that says Alabama recognizes the right to life of the unborn and that nothing in the state Constitution provides the right to abortion. It will be on the ballot for voters to approve or reject in the November 2018 general election. It would not have any direct impact unless Roe v. Wade is overturned. Pro-life and pro-choice supporters rallied outside of the Alabama Women's Center for Reproductive Alternatives during a "40 Days of Life Prayer Vigil" organized by pro-life members in Huntsville in 2013. (Sarah Cole/AL.com)

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Felons' voting rights

House Bill 282 defined what crimes are those of “moral turpitude” for the purpose of whether an offender loses voting privileges. The term “moral turpitude” is in the state Constitution but had no clear definition. Voters waiting in line outside Little Indian Creek Primitive Baptist Church in Monrovia, near Huntsville, in November 2016. (Bob Gathany/bgathany@AL.com)

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Insurance coverage for autism

House Bill 284 requires some health insurance plans to cover screening, diagnosis and treatment for autism for those 18 and younger. That includes coverage for applied behavior analysis, considered a vital therapy for many children with autism but one that is not affordable for many families without insurance. Parents and advocates for the bill pack a committee meeting room at the Alabama State House. (Mike Cason/AL.com)

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Legalizing and regulating midwifery

House Bill 315 allows midwives with certain qualifications to practice in Alabama, sets up a licensing board and sets some restrictions and requirements. Kaycee Cavender, president of the Alabama Birth Coalition, speaks during a rally for midwives in February on the steps of the Alabama State House. Advocates had fought for the bill for 13 years. (Julie Bennett/jbennett@al.com)

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Tax credits for historical preservation

House Bill 345 restarts Alabama’s program of providing income tax credits for the rehabilitation and preservation of historic buildings. It runs from 2018-2022 and caps the total annual credits at $20 million, with no more than $5 million for any one project. The Admiral Hotel on Government Street in downtown Mobile, Ala., built in 1940, was renovated under the tax credits program. (Sharon Steinmann/ssteinmann@al.com)

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Drinks at brunch

House Bill 353 allows for the sale of alcoholic beverages in bars and restaurants as early as 10 a.m. on Sunday in cities and counties that authorize those sales. Lawmakers called it the “brunch bill.” Mimosas are served during brunch at the Grand Hotel Marriott Resort & Spa in Point Clear on Dec. 8. 2013. (Sharon Steinmann/ssteinmann@al.com)

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Residential youth facilities

House Bill 440 sets up state regulations of residential youth schools, including those that offer counseling and behavioral programs. The law applies to faith-based, nonprofit and for-profit facilities where children stay for more than 24 hours. Called the Alabama Youth Residential Facility Abuse Prevention Act, the bill came in response to abuses at some unregulated facilities. The photo shows Isolation rooms at Solid Rock Ministries in Mobile. (Sharon Steinmann/ssteinmann@al.com)

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Death penalty decisions

Senate Bill 16 gives juries the final say on whether a defendant convicted of a capital offense receives the death penalty or life in prison without the possibility of parole. Previously, the jury made a recommendation but the judge was not bound to follow it. Alabama's lethal injection chamber at Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore is shown in 2002. (AP Photo/Dave Martin, File)

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Civics test for high school students

Senate Bill 32 requires high school students to pass a civics test made up of 100 questions taken from the tests given to immigrants applying for citizenship. Students must answer at least 60 correctly. U.S. citizens receive United States flags from members of the Exchange Club during a naturalization ceremony held in April aboard the battleship USS Alabama. (Lawrence Specker/LSpecker@AL.com)

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Protecting Confederate monuments

Senate Bill 60 prohibits the removal of statues and monuments on public property that are at least 40 years old and the renaming of buildings, schools and streets at least 40 years old. Those at least 20 years old cannot be moved or renamed without permission from a new state committee. Workers prepare to take down the statue of former Confederate general Robert E. Lee, which stands over 100 feet tall, in Lee Circle in New Orleans in May. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)

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Sunscreen at school

Senate Bill 63 says students in public and nonpublic schools can apply sunscreen at school, exempting over-the-counter sunscreen from rules of the State Board of Education and State Board of Nursing. Louisa Potts puts sunscreen on seven-month old Ty, as his uncle Andrew Ferguson holds him on the beach in Gulf Shores in July 2004. (Mobile Register, Chip English)

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Medicaid fraud

Senate Bill 85 strengthens the law against making false claims for payments from Medicaid. It includes businesses in the definition of person under the law and increases the statute of limitations on Medicaid fraud to six years.

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Medical paroles

Senate Bill 87, called the Alabama Medical Parole Act, allows for medical paroles of geriatric, permanently incapacitated and terminally ill inmates. Those convicted of capital murder or sex offenses are not eligible. Inmate Ralph Huckabee gets a drink with the help of James Rhodes at the Hamilton Aged and Infirmed Center, part of the Alabama Department of Corrections, in July 2002. (Beverly Taylor/Birmingham News)

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Allocating judicial resources

Senate Bill 90 creates a new commission to reallocate district court and circuit court judgeships based on population changes, caseloads and other factors. Under the new law, judgeships can only be moved when a vacancy occurs or an incumbent is barred by age from seeking re-election.

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Crossover voting banned

Senate Bill 108 prohibits voters from voting in a party runoff if they voted in the preceding primary of the opposite party. Madison County Sheriff deputies direct traffic near Cove Church on Winchester Road in November. (Bob Gathany/bgathany@AL.com)

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Death penalty appeals

Senate Bill 187 requires people sentenced to death to file certain state appeals sooner and concurrently with other appeals. The law sets new deadlines for courts to rule on certain appeals. Proponents say the intent was to shorten the average time for state court appeals in death penalty cases. Opponents said it would increase the likelihood of executing an innocent person. (AP Photo/Dave Martin, File)

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Sex offenses

Senate Bill 301 created new sex offense crimes, some based on recent trends in the use of technology. The law bans nonconsensual pornography, sometimes called "revenge porn," and the use of threatening communications to induce a victim to engage in unwanted sexual activity, called "sextortion." Parents listen to a seminar conducted by Connecticut State Police Sgt. Jim Smith of the cybercrimes unit in Windsor Locks, Conn., in 2008. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill, file)