Alabama has several new laws taking effect Monday, including one allowing the state parole board to issue posthumous pardons for the Scottsboro Boys.
The founder of the Scottsboro Boys Museum, Sheila Washington, says paperwork will be filed soon asking the board to issue pardons removing rape convictions that occurred more than 80 years ago. She says pardons would mean shame is gone from the names of the Scottsboro Boys.
Other new laws are meant to cut red tape for businesses, give new protections to utility workers, and make Alabama more attractive to the military during the next round of base realignments.
A new law regulating abortion clinic doctors was supposed to take effect Monday, but a judge put it on hold.