#3063: Steve Hurst

Steve Hurst is a longtime member of the Alabama House of Representatives representing the the 35th District, having served since 1998. That has given him plenty of time to do plenty of silly stuff, such as being the (sole) sponsor of Alabama’s House Bill 258 in 2018, which would, if enacted, allow teachers to present “the theory of creation as presented in the Bible” in any class discussing evolution, “thereby affording students a choice as to which theory to accept.” The bill would also ensure that creationist students would not be penalized for answering examination questions in a way reflecting their adherence to creationism, “provided the response is correct according to the instruction received.” The bill was clearly modeled on the Kentucky Revised Statutes 158.177, which was enacted in 1976 and seems to be still on the books in Kentucky despite its patent unconstitutionality. Hurst has otherwise received some attention for earlier proposals to require public school teachers to read a daily prayer in the classroom and to punish sex offenders with surgical or chemical castration (that one eventually passed in 2019, but will never be used since it sets up castration as a condition for parole and the crimes for which it can, in fact, be used are not eligible for parole anyways – the whole thing was, of course, just to show off some sort of character.)

 

Diagnosis: Wingnut fundie loon the old-fashioned way – the kind we used to cover a lot of a decade ago but today seem almost quaint. Still a loon, though.