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Court Orders Alabama's Chief Justice Removed from Bench
By JEFFREY GETTLEMAN
Published: November 13, 2003
MONTGOMERY, Ala., Nov. 12 - A special court today ordered the removal of Alabama's chief justice, Roy S. Moore, after unanimously finding that he had committed ethical breaches in a dispute over church, state and the Ten Commandments that gained national attention.
The announcement of the nine-member court's decision, which was televised nationally, followed a trial on Wednesday in which Chief Justice Moore remained as defiant as ever, even with his job on the line.
Chief Justice Moore said he had done nothing wrong by flouting a federal court order to remove a 5,280-pound granite monument of the Ten Commandments that he had installed in the lobby of the State Supreme Court.
``I'd do it all the same all over again,'' Chief Justice Moore said on Wednesday. ``I said it back then and I'll say it again now. God is the basis of our law and our government. I cannot and will not violate my conscience.''
Chief Justice Moore, who was suspended from office in August, was charged with six separate ethical breaches stemming from his adamant refusals to remove the monument despite a federal court order to do so.
The state's attorney general, William Pryor Jr., a conservative who has been nominated by President Bush for an appellate judgeship and was once a supporter of Chief Justice Moore, led the attack Wednesday, saying that ``the chief justice had put himself above the law.''
``This case presents an all or nothing proposition,'' Mr. Pryor said, who early in the dispute had backed Chief Justice Moore. ``Either the chief justice is wrong and must be removed. Or the chief justice is right and must be reinstated.''
``What does it mean to have the rule of laws and not of men?'' Mr. Pryor asked. ``That is the fundamental question.''
Once again, the Ten Commandments controversy drew a huge crowd, creating a spectacle in downtown Montgomery reminiscent of the revival-like protests that lasted two weeks this summer.
Shortly after sunrise Wednesday, several dozen of Chief Justice Moore's supporters bowed their heads and held a prayer circle on the courthouse steps. Young men blew curled rams' horns as a call to arms. Two women wore black veils ``to mourn the death of America,'' they said. One burly man named Matt strutted up the courthouse steps dressed in a green army helmet and flak jacket ``to wage war for God.''
Whether or not Chief Justice Moore emerges with his job, his popularity seems to be only growing.
On Wednesday, as the proceedings began inside the same courtroom where Chief Justice Moore used to bang the gavel, a long gold bus circled downtown Montgomery with a banner on the side: ``Alabama Save the Commandments Tour.''
Donations for his legal defense have been flowing in, enough to afford him three well-known lawyers, including one who was recently an Alabama Supreme Court justice.
On Aug. 22, Chief Justice Moore was suspended with pay pending the outcome of this trial, which was conducted by the Alabama Court of the Judiciary. He was accused of failing to comply with the law and bringing ``the judicial office into disrepute.'' Removal required a unanimous vote of the nine-member court.
The court is a mix of judges, lawyers and lay people, both Democrat and Republican, with more than half holding elected office. Many analysts said because of that, and Chief Justice Moore's popularity in Alabama, that it was unlikely that he would be removed.
``He strikes a chord with the masses and it would be a huge risk for someone to be remembered as the one who voted against the Ten Commandments judge,'' said William Stewart, a political science professor at the University of Alabama.
History seemed to be on the chief justice's side. In the judicial court's 30-year history, only three judges had been removed. The court does not have the power to keep a judge off the bench permanently. The last Alabama judge was ousted in 1999 after he was found guilty of financial fraud. The next year, he was re-elected to the same seat.
The thrust of Chief Justice Moore's defense was that the federal order ruling that the display of the monument violated the separation of church and state was unlawful. Chief Justice Moore has said the monument, inscribed with the biblical commandments and etched with wise words from the nation's founding fathers, all referring to God, is a way to honor the biblical underpinning of America's laws.
This month, the last of Chief Justice Moore's legal options ran out when the United States Supreme Court refused to hear the case. In the end, Chief Justice Moore's colleagues decided to store the slab of granite in a storage room on the first floor of the courthouse.
The climax of Wednesday's proceedings came when Mr. Pryor stepped into the center of the courtroom to cross-examine Chief Justice Moore.
``Good afternoon, Mr. Chief Justice,'' Mr. Pryor began.
``Good afternoon, Mr. Attorney General,'' Chief Justice Moore replied.
Both cracked a smile. The two had once been allies. Mr. Pryor spoke at Ten Commandments rallies and supplied lawyers from his office to help in the chief's justice defense. But after federal courts ruled against the chief justice, Mr. Pryor, whose judicial nomination remains one of the most controversial in Washington, switched sides and demanded the monument be moved.
Mr. Pryor asked the chief justice, ``If you resume your job, will you continue to acknowledge God, no matter what the other judges say?''
``Yes,'' Chief Justice Moore replied.
Later in the day, the judicial court broke for deliberations and announced that it expected to reach a decision by this morning. Short of removal from office, the judicial court also had the power to censure or suspend him, actions that would have taken only six of the nine votes.
By JEFFREY GETTLEMAN
Published: November 13, 2003
MONTGOMERY, Ala., Nov. 12 - A special court today ordered the removal of Alabama's chief justice, Roy S. Moore, after unanimously finding that he had committed ethical breaches in a dispute over church, state and the Ten Commandments that gained national attention.
The announcement of the nine-member court's decision, which was televised nationally, followed a trial on Wednesday in which Chief Justice Moore remained as defiant as ever, even with his job on the line.
Chief Justice Moore said he had done nothing wrong by flouting a federal court order to remove a 5,280-pound granite monument of the Ten Commandments that he had installed in the lobby of the State Supreme Court.
``I'd do it all the same all over again,'' Chief Justice Moore said on Wednesday. ``I said it back then and I'll say it again now. God is the basis of our law and our government. I cannot and will not violate my conscience.''
Chief Justice Moore, who was suspended from office in August, was charged with six separate ethical breaches stemming from his adamant refusals to remove the monument despite a federal court order to do so.
The state's attorney general, William Pryor Jr., a conservative who has been nominated by President Bush for an appellate judgeship and was once a supporter of Chief Justice Moore, led the attack Wednesday, saying that ``the chief justice had put himself above the law.''
``This case presents an all or nothing proposition,'' Mr. Pryor said, who early in the dispute had backed Chief Justice Moore. ``Either the chief justice is wrong and must be removed. Or the chief justice is right and must be reinstated.''
``What does it mean to have the rule of laws and not of men?'' Mr. Pryor asked. ``That is the fundamental question.''
Once again, the Ten Commandments controversy drew a huge crowd, creating a spectacle in downtown Montgomery reminiscent of the revival-like protests that lasted two weeks this summer.
Shortly after sunrise Wednesday, several dozen of Chief Justice Moore's supporters bowed their heads and held a prayer circle on the courthouse steps. Young men blew curled rams' horns as a call to arms. Two women wore black veils ``to mourn the death of America,'' they said. One burly man named Matt strutted up the courthouse steps dressed in a green army helmet and flak jacket ``to wage war for God.''
Whether or not Chief Justice Moore emerges with his job, his popularity seems to be only growing.
On Wednesday, as the proceedings began inside the same courtroom where Chief Justice Moore used to bang the gavel, a long gold bus circled downtown Montgomery with a banner on the side: ``Alabama Save the Commandments Tour.''
Donations for his legal defense have been flowing in, enough to afford him three well-known lawyers, including one who was recently an Alabama Supreme Court justice.
On Aug. 22, Chief Justice Moore was suspended with pay pending the outcome of this trial, which was conducted by the Alabama Court of the Judiciary. He was accused of failing to comply with the law and bringing ``the judicial office into disrepute.'' Removal required a unanimous vote of the nine-member court.
The court is a mix of judges, lawyers and lay people, both Democrat and Republican, with more than half holding elected office. Many analysts said because of that, and Chief Justice Moore's popularity in Alabama, that it was unlikely that he would be removed.
``He strikes a chord with the masses and it would be a huge risk for someone to be remembered as the one who voted against the Ten Commandments judge,'' said William Stewart, a political science professor at the University of Alabama.
History seemed to be on the chief justice's side. In the judicial court's 30-year history, only three judges had been removed. The court does not have the power to keep a judge off the bench permanently. The last Alabama judge was ousted in 1999 after he was found guilty of financial fraud. The next year, he was re-elected to the same seat.
The thrust of Chief Justice Moore's defense was that the federal order ruling that the display of the monument violated the separation of church and state was unlawful. Chief Justice Moore has said the monument, inscribed with the biblical commandments and etched with wise words from the nation's founding fathers, all referring to God, is a way to honor the biblical underpinning of America's laws.
This month, the last of Chief Justice Moore's legal options ran out when the United States Supreme Court refused to hear the case. In the end, Chief Justice Moore's colleagues decided to store the slab of granite in a storage room on the first floor of the courthouse.
The climax of Wednesday's proceedings came when Mr. Pryor stepped into the center of the courtroom to cross-examine Chief Justice Moore.
``Good afternoon, Mr. Chief Justice,'' Mr. Pryor began.
``Good afternoon, Mr. Attorney General,'' Chief Justice Moore replied.
Both cracked a smile. The two had once been allies. Mr. Pryor spoke at Ten Commandments rallies and supplied lawyers from his office to help in the chief's justice defense. But after federal courts ruled against the chief justice, Mr. Pryor, whose judicial nomination remains one of the most controversial in Washington, switched sides and demanded the monument be moved.
Mr. Pryor asked the chief justice, ``If you resume your job, will you continue to acknowledge God, no matter what the other judges say?''
``Yes,'' Chief Justice Moore replied.
Later in the day, the judicial court broke for deliberations and announced that it expected to reach a decision by this morning. Short of removal from office, the judicial court also had the power to censure or suspend him, actions that would have taken only six of the nine votes.
It's always a First Amendment issue when its a religious worldview that you (not directly) and a select few agree with. 
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