Montgomery family judge nominee facing ballot controversy

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WSFA) - After allegations of child abuse by the Democratic nominee for a Montgomery family court judge surfaced, the Alabama Democratic Party has finally responded to the candidate and a group of lawyers who are concerned about more than the alleged abuse.

The allegations surround family law attorney Sebrina Martin. She currently has two adopted children, and that’s one of the things a letter from the group of lawyers asks the Democratic Party and other leaders to investigate.

They list four main concerns as to why:

“Martin intentionally falsified her Statement of Economic Interest with the Alabama Ethics Commission form by stating she had no adult children.”
1. Martin has nine children, four of whom are adults.
“Martin violated portions of the Alabama Rules of Professional Responsibility by engaging in conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit, and misrepresentation.”
“Martin violated the Fair Campaign Practices Act.” By distributing misleading campaign material that could have people think Martin was already a Circuit Judge.
Martin and her campaign distributed misleading sample ballots.

Two days after the letter was addressed, Martin posted a video on Facebook addressing the child abuse allegations and her divorce case.

“You don’t know what it’s like to go through a divorce until you go through a divorce. You don’t know what it’s like to adopt a child until you adopt one. And you don’t know what it’s like to go through losing custody of a child until you lose one,” Martin said in the video.

The Democratic Party issued a show-cause order last Friday to give Martin a chance to make her case to determine if she will be disqualified from the race. They did not respond to requests for comment.

Martin told WSFA 12 News she needs to confer with her team before deciding whether to submit anything for that hearing, which she has until this Friday to do.