13-11-2003 23:53									#1
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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.

	13-11-2003 23:55									#2
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quote: 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.

:vomit:

	14-11-2003 11:15									#3
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Yeah, what the former Chief Judge did is all fine and dandy — until some other yokel comes along and displays his or her preference for, say, Islam. Or Wicca. Or paganism. Or animism. Or voodoo. I bet the Moore's Christian supporters wouldn't be rah-rahing that development, would they?

And if Moore does run again for office, I bet he takes a stab at the U.S. Senate.

Gatekeeper

	14-11-2003 11:27									#4
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He'd have a better chance to run for Senate because he could pick which section of the state to run from. Many of us think he's crazy, too.

	14-11-2003 14:34									#5
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quote: Originally posted by Harry Seldon He'd have a better chance to run for Senate because he could pick which section of the state to run from. Many of us think he's crazy, too.

Are you talking about the state senate? U.S. senators are elected at large IIRC.

	14-11-2003 14:54									#6
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"Ten commandments now, ten commandments tomorrow, ten commandments forever?"

	14-11-2003 15:31									#7
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Stefu, it's bad enough that you speak English better than most of us here in the US, but do you have to show off your knowledge of American history with obscure allusions to George Wallace as well?

	14-11-2003 20:18									#8
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quote: Originally posted by Stefu "Ten commandments now, ten commandments tomorrow, ten commandments forever?"

That reference is inapropriate because you can't compare segregation with wanting to display the 10 Commandments. Segregation was wrong and evil, whereas displaying the 10 Commandments is a very good and noble thing. So there is a big difference between the two.

	14-11-2003 20:30									#9
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quote: Yeah, what the former Chief Judge did is all fine and dandy — until some other yokel comes along and displays his or her preference for, say, Islam. Or Wicca. Or paganism. Or animism. Or voodoo.

Good point. I would love to see how the same people would react to a judge who had a monolithic treatise from Satanism in his courthouse which called for the drinking of goat's blood as a punishment for thievery. It's always a First Amendment issue when its a religious worldview that you (not directly) and a select few agree with.

Anyone dumb enough to elect this chump....

	14-11-2003 20:36									#10
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quote: Stefu, it's bad enough that you speak English better than most of us here in the US, but do you have to show off your knowledge of American history with obscure allusions to George Wallace as well?

	15-11-2003 05:18									#11
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quote: Originally posted by The diplomat That reference is inapropriate because you can't compare segregation with wanting to display the 10 Commandments. Segregation was wrong and evil, whereas displaying the 10 Commandments is a very good and noble thing. So there is a big difference between the two.

dsiplaying the ten commandments aginst the LAW is not a noble thing to do. Thank God that court had the guts to stand up for the rule of law and remove this satin on the judiciary.

	15-11-2003 05:29									#12
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Let me just say this, my wife and I are agnostic. My children can believe what they will. Despite serious differences of opinion with the kinds of shenanigans the baptists get up to here, I would still rather live here than in the north.

	15-11-2003 06:22									#13
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quote: dsiplaying the ten commandments aginst the LAW is not a noble thing to do.

Helping runaway slaves against the LAW is not a noble thing to do.

	15-11-2003 17:06									#14
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Displaying other religious symbols would not be accepted, since the argument is "God" was a fundamental part of American history....

However, I bet you could flip out a lot of baptists if you were to put a giant freemason altar with various secret symbols all over it... :P

I am keeping my fingers crossed that Moore will run for President.

	16-11-2003 00:06									#15
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quote: Originally posted by Berzerker Helping runaway slaves against the LAW is not a noble thing to do.

And if back in 1857 a judge was cught for doing it, I would be fne with him loosing his seat, having broken the law.

	16-11-2003 07:36									#16
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I'm curious as to which god/s it was that Moore and his supporters think underpins the modern United States.

Was it the Anglican god of the English state, the Puritan god of the religious dissenters, the Calvinist god of the Dutch of New Amsterdam,the Catholic god of the Irish and Spanish, the Mormon god, Yahweh, Damballah, Idanre, or any other of the many African gods of the imported slaves, the many different gods of the Native Americans, the Hawaiian gods.....?

'God is the basis of our law and government.'

How odd. Why then did no clergyman participate in the U.S. Constitutional Convention? Doesn't the Constitution actually lack any religious references or mention of god? What happened? Too busy elsewhere?
Couldn't delegate? Perhaps god popped out at an inopportune moment in the proceedings, and neglected to arrange a proxy vote.

Still, at least now god has Justice Moore to arrange matters for god. What a relief that must be.

	16-11-2003 09:04									#17
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quote: And if back in 1857 a judge was cught for doing it, I would be fne with him loosing his seat, having broken the law.

And if a German judge was helping Jews escape the Holocaust? I guess we just have different definitions of nobility...

	16-11-2003 09:36									#18
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quote: I'm curious as to which god/s it was that Moore and his supporters think underpins the modern United States.

The God he follows, of course .

	16-11-2003 11:08									#19
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To find the answer read my books:

1) Who Is This God Person Anyway.

2) Where God Went Wrong.

3) Some More Of God's Mistakes.

(P.S. Douglas Adams stole my work rhrough the illegale use of a Time Miachine).

Last edited by Promethus on 16-11-2003 at 11:26