We’re spending some time in the courts today. And if legal stories are your thing, check out today’s podcast episode. Reporter Sarah Whites-Koditschek, who was at the U.S. Supreme Court last week, catches us up on the legal issues surrounding Alabama’s unemployment system.

Thanks for reading,

Ike

Race and the mortgage business

Fairway Independent Mortgage Corp. has agreed to pay millions to settle a case that an accuser with the Justice Department called “modern-day redlining,” reports AL.com’s William Thornton.

Fairway is based in Wisconsin and operates in Birmingham under the name MortgageBanc. The Justice Department and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau claimed that Fairway discouraged residents of Black neighborhoods from applying for mortgage loans.

That’s costing Fairway nearly $10 million — $7 million for a loan-subsidy program in Birmingham’s majority-Black neighborhoods, $1 million for programs to support that fund, and $1.9 million to pay a civil-money penalty.

The Justice Department claimed that Fairway marketed toward majority-white neighborhoods and didn’t train loan officers to do a better job serving heavily Black neighborhoods. From 2018-2022, only 3.7% of loan applications held by Fairway were for majority-Black areas, while other lenders averaged higher than 12%.

Voter rolls and the election

A federal judge has told Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen to hit the brakes on a voter purge until after the Nov. 5 election, reports AL.com’s Joseph D. Bryant.

The program flags registered voters who are believed to have illegally registered. The state then changes their status from active to inactive. The program sent notices to 3,251 people to let them know they were now inactive — and more than 2,000 of those people have since been found to be legal voters.

Civil-rights and advocacy groups joined the U.S. Department of Justice in filing a lawsuit against Allen and the state, claiming the program was flagging and intimidating legal voters. The DOJ also argued that the removing registered voters from the rolls this close to an election violated the National Voter Registration Act of 1993.

Judge Anna M. Manasco, a Trump appointee, agreed.

MoonPies and country music

It doesn’t seem like a big stretch to association country music with a MoonPie-themed event. But it’s been a while since a country artist has headlined the annual MoonPie Over Mobile New Year’s Eve get-together.

However, his year’s performer is a country legend.

AL.com’s Lawrence Specker reports that Clint Black has taken the job. Black, of course, is the 90s hitmaker who brought us “Killin’ Time,” “A Better Man” and many other No. 1s.

The Kids’ Zone will also be back Mardi Gras Park. And there will be second-line parades, a carving of the world’s largest edible MoonPie and, of course, the MoonPie Drop at midnight.

By the Numbers

400

That’s how many threat detection and warning systems Huntsville’s BAE Systems has delivered to the Army. BAE Systems designed and developed the 2-Color Advanced Warning Systems that protect U.S. Army helicopters.

More Alabama News

Born on This Date

In 1948, Pro Bowl wide receiver and tight end Rich Caster of Mobile. He just passed away early this year after suffering from Parkinson’s, according to the New York Jets.

On the podcast

Reporter Sarah Whites-Koditschek joins us. She was at the U.S. Supreme Court last week for arguments in a case involving Alabama’s bogged down and backed up unemployment system.

You can find “Down in Alabama” wherever you get your podcasts, including these places: