Alabama AG Answers Conservative Criticism for Prosecuting Moore

CNSNEWS.com ^ | 11/14/03 | David Thibault

[kattracks]

(CNSNews.com) - Once an ally of ousted Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore, Alabama Attorney General Bill Pryor Thursday insisted he did not prosecute Moore because of the judge's stance on a Ten Commandments public display.

"I did not prosecute the chief justice for the Ten Commandments. I prosecuted the chief justice because he refused to obey a court order from a federal district court that had been affirmed by the court of appeals and the Supreme Court of the United States had decided not to review," Pryor told CNSNews.com.

Pryor commented shortly after Alabama's nine-member Court of the Judiciary stripped Moore of his position for defying the order of U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson to remove the Ten Commandments display from the rotunda of the state courthouse.

In fulfilling his statutory duty to prosecute Moore, Pryor said his own personal views were irrelevant to the controversy and did not require him to remove himself from the case.

"I support the public display of the Ten Commandments, but I have never supported disobedience of a court order. It's my duty to represent the Judicial Inquiry Commission, and I did my duty."

Moore's attorneys had argued for Pryor's recusal before the Court of the Judiciary, but "the court unanimously ruled against them," Pryor said.

However, in prosecuting Moore, Pryor managed to anger many cultural conservatives from Alabama and elsewhere who had previously supported President Bush's nomination of the conservative attorney general to a seat on the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals.

Mark Iain Sutherland, president of the Positive Action Coalition, a grassroots activist group in St. Louis, Mo., said that while he once supported Pryor's nomination to the federal bench, he now has too many questions left unanswered.

"Does [Pryor] have any convictions? Is he going to be playing political games? Is he going to be furthering his agenda like he's been doing as attorney general?...You can't really know that anymore because he switches, depending on the political opportunity," Sutherland said of Pryor.

In defying the federal court order to remove the Ten Commandments display he had ordered erected in the rotunda of the Alabama Judicial Building, Moore argued that he was supporting the religious foundation on which the United States was created.

On Thursday, Sutherland accused Pryor of buckling to the judicial opinion of Thompson when he should have sought to defend the language of the U.S. Constitution acknowledging God.

"When a judge says something that is in contradiction to...the United States Constitution, [Pryor] is duty-bound to stand against that order," Sutherland said. "Just because a judge says something, it doesn't have the power of law, it's judicial opinion. People nowadays are saying: 'Well if a judge says it, it is law.' It is not law. It is judicial opinion."

Pryor is no darling of the political left either. His nomination has been the subject of a filibuster by Senate Democrats, who accuse Pryor of being a conservative extremist.

When Pryor was asked Thursday how he expected his prosecution of Moore to affect his nomination to the federal bench, he insisted it had "nothing to do with my nomination."

"I'm honored to be a nominee of the president, and I will continue to be, as long as he wants me to be his nominee," Pryor told CNSNews.com.

But Sutherland said Pryor should have stood behind Moore, even at the expense of his judicial nomination.

"Just because Democrats or...anybody is giving you a hard time about the values that you hold doesn't mean you should shift them around and try and appease them. You should stand for what you stand for. Whether that means that you don't get confirmed, then so be it."

Pryor is term-limited as Alabama's attorney general. As for a political future beyond his current office, Pryor is "not running for anything," Suzanne Webb, a spokeswoman for Pryor, said.

See Earlier Story:
Roy Moore Removed From Chief Justice Post (Nov. 13, 2003)

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[auboy]

Pryor is term-limited as Alabama's attorney general. As for a political future beyond his current office, Pryor is "not running for anything," Suzanne Webb, a spokeswoman for Pryor, said.

Probably a wise move at this point. I'll believe it when he goes into private practice. He's being black-listed by the Democrats, and will be no matter what he does.

[aardvark1]

"I support the public display of the Ten Commandments, but I have never supported disobedience of a court order. It's my duty to represent the Judicial Inquiry Commission, and I did my duty."

I am not from AL, but my guess is Pryor's oath of office said something about upholding the constitution of the state, not "representing the Judicial Inquiry Commission." Does Pryor have any right of individual judgment in such cases where he disagrees with the ruling based on constitutional convictions?

This whole idea that I first heard stated by Mario Cuomo in context of abortion, that a person can be personally opposed to something and yet publically support its opposite is very disturbing.

[Redbob]

Pryor's an ass, but that doesn't make him unique among the current crop of Bush judicial appointees.

He's one that I'm perfectly happy for the Dims to filibuster, and I've sent my Senators letter urging them to lose their support for him.

[lugsoul]

Interesting, how the Nazi rule seems to not apply to these threads at all. Especially when the subject of these threads attained his lofty position by scaring up boogeymen to whip his followers into a frenzy.

[Scenic Sounds]

Well, You and I both know that they won't and as a result the Constitution is ineffective in restraining Leviathan, as the antifederalists feared.

I agree that the Supreme Court is not likely to overrule Marbury. I think that if we want to slow down the federal government, we need to concentrate on the Congress. ;-)

[Bryan24]

What is wrong with you people? Moore grandstanded his way into office and chose the wrong method to further his agenda.

Pryor has done his duty, obeying the law in all accounts. Moore and his supporters are continuing to throw "red-heerings" out when saying "I have to acknowledge God".

The United States Constitution does NOT require judges to acknowledge God by putting the 10 Commandments on public display.

Pryor is in favor of having the 10 Commandments but he FOLLOWED THE LAW, HE DIDN'T BREAK THE LAW LIKE MOORE DID.

[wiley]

And how many judicial orders that alter the meaning of the Constitution are you willing to accept. The written law has no meaning to you, obviously.

What inanity. This is the kind of tripe taught in law schools, that doning a black robe makes one a god.

[lugsoul]

Really? You've been to law school and they taught you that? Or are you just pulling that out of your a*s?

[Bryan24]

So, I guess when he told the Senate Judiciary Committee that he thinks "Roe v Wade is an abomination" that he was selling his soul then?

[k2blader]

Agreed.

I think too many conservatives are allowing emotion to sway their opinion in this case...

But what disgusts me most is some folks' "cut off nose to spite face" attitude.

[PeoplesRepublicOfWashington]

In my experience, the people who generally have the greatest disrespect for our laws and courts are judges and lawyers.

[lugsoul]

Actually, I think it was "the worst abomination in the history of U.S. Constitutional law." Yep, that Pryor is just another RINO sell-out, I'll tell ya.

I just wanna know what kind of mojo-hypno device Moore has going that causes conservatives to eat their young over [pulling on Nomex] mere symbolism.

[Poohbah]

I just wanna know what kind of mojo-hypno device Moore has going that causes conservatives to eat their young over [pulling on Nomex] mere symbolism.

He has a Steve-Jobsianesque Reality Distortion Field.

[Texas Federalist]

Pryor did what he did because he is trying to avoid giving the Dems more ammunition to support their fillibuster. Pryor did what he did for selfish political reasons.

[Don'tMessWithTexas]

When a judge issues an order, it is a directive from the bench for someone to do something. For example, if a judge orders someone to appear before the court on a certain date and time, that person is required to appear. If the person does not have a valid excuse for failing to do so, the person is in comtempt of the court's order. If one is in contempt of a state court order, the judge would be allowed to direct the sheriff to execute or enforce the order. If one is in contempt of a federal court order, the judge could direct the marshalls to enforce.

Not all opinions contain orders and most orders do not contain opinions, they're orders.

[hchutch]

Don't forget that Roy Moore stood on PRINCIPLE...

And as a result, he'll take down Pryor. Too bad. Pryor would be one heck of a SCOTUS nominee.

[Bryan24]

I don't know. I'm HIGHLY conservative and HIGHLY religious, yet I can clearly see what Judge Moore did was wrong.

The entire monument fiasco was a political fight, not a religious fight. Moore had NO moral authority to disobey Federal Judge Myrons Thompson's court order. His morals were not being compromised in ANY way.