Constitutional carry since 2023. No AWB, no magazine limit, strong preemption. Stand-your-ground codified. Suppressors/SBRs legal. No waiting period or red-flag law.

No medical or recreational cannabis access (medical program approved in 2021 still not operational due to licensing litigation). No decriminalization; possession can mean jail time. No psychedelic reform. Drug courts available. Active drug-war prosecutions continue.

State minimum wage $7.25/hr (no state minimum, federal applies). MIT living wage for 1 adult: $14.46/hr. Ratio 0.50 — minimum-wage workers earn 50% of what's needed to live there alone.

Low taxes (property tax burden lowest in nation) but well-below-average NAEP scores (4th math/reading near bottom quartile) and low life expectancy (~73.6). Modest spending matches modest outcomes — mediocrity tier, no efficiency dividend.

IJ grades Alabama D- on civil asset forfeiture (low bar of proof, profit incentive intact, heavy equitable-sharing use). No qualified immunity reform; broad police protections. No statewide no-knock restrictions. No mandatory body cam law with public access. No biometric or geofence privacy statute. Limited ICE detainer protections (HB 56 era enforcement). Some state employee whistleblower protection but narrow.

No no-excuse absentee voting. No early voting. No same-day or automatic registration. Strict photo ID law. History of polling place closures, especially in Black Belt counties. Felony disenfranchisement requires individual application after sentence completion with fines/fees paid. Republican-drawn maps struck down by SCOTUS (Allen v. Milligan) for racial gerrymandering. SB 1 (2024) restricted absentee ballot assistance.

Has NOT adopted Medicaid expansion. Total abortion ban (no rape/incest exceptions) since Dobbs. Ban on gender-affirming care for minors (SB 184, felony). Uninsured rate above national median. Among worst maternal mortality outcomes in nation. Rural hospital closure crisis. Religious refusal laws expansive.

No qualified immunity reform. No statewide body camera mandate. Police disciplinary records largely confidential. POST has decertification authority but limited public visibility. No no-knock warrant restrictions. Use-of-force standard is the federal 'reasonableness' floor. Local DAs handle police shooting investigations. No statewide chokehold ban. Per-capita police killings well above national median.

Near-total abortion ban (no rape/incest exception). No statewide LGBTQ+ nondiscrimination law. Gender-affirming care ban for minors (felony for providers). Religious exemption laws covering adoption/foster. Conversion therapy legal. State Supreme Court 2024 ruling that frozen embryos are 'children' under wrongful death law disrupted IVF until narrow shield passed. Broad RFRA. Active Christian-nationalist legislative trend.

Right-to-work state. No paid family leave. No paid sick leave law. Federal OSHA (no state plan). Weak wage theft enforcement; no dedicated state agency. No prevailing wage law (repealed). High fatal occupational injury rate, well above national median. No heat-illness rules, no domestic worker protections, no scheduling laws.