State Supreme Court hands Alabama Power big victory in high profile Shelby County fight

By Patrick Darrington | pdarrington@al.comThe Alabama Supreme Court ruled Wednesday to grant Alabama Power the ability to enter a Shelby County man’s property amid an ongoing legal dispute over the land.The one page order from the court stayed a previous preliminary injunction that a Shelby County judge granted in September preventing Alabama Power from accessing Fenn Church’s property as part of a project to install the Autaugaville-East Pelham 230kV transmission line.Alabama Power appealed to remove the injunction from the state Supreme Court, stating the utility had a legal right to enter Church’s property.Chief Justice Sarah Hicks Stewart concurred and was joined by Justices William Sellers, Alisa Wise, Brady Mendheim and Will Parker.Justices Greg Shaw and Greg Cook recused themselves and the lone dissenter was Justice Chris McCool.Church posted a video on X following the decision and voiced his displeasure with the ruling he says allows Alabama Power to “destroy the privacy of my home.”“As of right now this gives Alabama Power the right to come on my property and start cutting trees and clearing land,” Church said. “And I’m very disappointed in the outcome of our Supreme Court justices.”AL.com left a message seeking comment with Alabama Power regarding the decision.Church said the state Supreme Court will decide whether the temporary restraining order was legal and after that ruling the case will return to a Shelby County court regarding the full injunction.But Church said he is not giving up and will continue to fight Alabama Power over the privacy of his home.“I’m still trying to protect this not only for Fenn Church but for everybody in the state of Alabama and everybody in the United States that’s getting this abuse done to their home,” Church said.Church has been supported in the fight by country singer John Rich, a member of Big & Rich. MORE BY PATRICK DARRINGTONDemocrat state Rep. Phillip Ensler, who is running for lieutenant governor, also visited Church’s property.“This has become a big public issue,” Ensler said at the time.“This is about everyone’s freedom and everyone’s privacy and making sure the government doesn’t overstep and overreach.”Patrick Darrington is a Breaking News reporter for AL.com. Based in Mobile, Patrick primarily covers stories about public safety in his current role. He has experience covering a range of topics including state...