Ousted Ala. Justice Moore Seeks Reinstatement

NewsMax ^ | 1/8/04

[Tumbleweed_Connection]

Roy Moore, who was ousted as Alabama's chief justice for refusing to remove a Ten Commandments monument from the state judicial building, asked the state Supreme Court on Thursday to return him to office.

Moore argued in legal briefs that his expulsion sets a "dangerous precedent" and requires judges to deny their oath of office and religious faith.

The former chief justice was appealing the Nov. 13 decision of the Alabama Court of the Judiciary to oust him for refusing a federal court order to move the 5,300-pound monument from the Alabama Judicial Building's rotunda.

U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson found the monument to be an unconstitutional promotion of religion by government. Moore maintains that the commandments are the moral foundation of American law.

"I've been removed from public office — the highest judicial office in this state — by an unelected, politically appointed body, and they did not question why I did not obey an unlawful order of the federal court," Moore said at a news conference. "Basically, I was given the choice to fail to acknowledge God or keep my job."

The Court of the Judiciary consists of judges, lawyers and others appointed variously by judges, legal leaders and the governor and lieutenant governor.

Moore's appeal will be decided by seven retired judges chosen at random to form a stand-in Supreme Court after the elected justices disqualified themselves from hearing the former chief justice's case.

Attorney General Bill Pryor, who prosecuted Moore before the Court of the Judiciary, has 20 days to file a response to Moore's brief.

Suzanne Webb, a spokesman for Pryor, said he needs to study the papers before making any comment.

Moore and his attorneys argue that the Court of the Judiciary made a mistake by not considering whether Thompson's order to move the monument was legal.

"The Court of the Judiciary's crucial failure to distinguish between lawful and unlawful orders sets a dangerous precedent for all judicial officials in that ... it requires obedience to all court orders including those that are illegal and unethical," the brief argues.

Moore's attorneys also filed a motion Thursday objecting to the way the replacement justices were chosen.

Moore, known as the "Ten Commandments judge," designed the granite monument and moved it into the rotunda one night in July 2001. After a seven-day trial in 2002, Thompson ordered the monument removed.

Thompson's order was upheld by a federal appeals court, and the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear Moore's appeal.

After Thompson missed Moore's deadline to remove the monument, the Judicial Inquiry Commission suspended Moore from office and brought ethics charges against him before the Court of the Judiciary. The monument was moved into a storage room by order of the eight associate Supreme Court justices.

In the brief filed Thursday, Moore said moving the monument would have forced him to "forsake an acknowledgment of God."

"Both the Alabama and the federal constitution prohibit Alabama from forcing public officers to choose between their job and their God," the brief said.

At the news conference, Moore said he is still seeking a book deal and that his income for now comes solely from speaking fees.

Moore said he hopes the book will help people understand what is meant by "the rule of law" and "separation of church and state."

"We are at a very critical point in our country to determine whether the federal government can tell us what to think. A lot of people seem to be missing it," he said.

[RJCogburn]

Moore said he is still seeking a book deal

Sorry, posted this article again a minute after this one.

[GrandEagle]

After Thompson missed Moore's deadline to remove the monument, ????

"We are at a very critical point in our country to determine whether the federal government can tell us what to think. A lot of people seem to be missing it," he said.

He is ABSOLUTELY right on this point!

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[John Beresford Tipton]

"We are at a very critical point in our country.....

my 15 minutes are about up!!!

[SedVictaCatoni]

He is ABSOLUTELY right on this point!

Yeah! That part where the federal judge told him what to think was TOTALLY out of line!

I couldn't find it in my copy of the opinion, but I'm sure it's in there somewhere. Mullah Moore said so!

[sinkspur]

"Basically, I was given the choice to fail to acknowledge God or keep my job."

Is Moore a minister of justice or a minister of the Gospel?

He seems to be confused.

[JoeSchem]

Is Moore a minister of justice or a minister of the Gospel?

He seems to be confused.

When the Ten Commandments was removed from the courtroom, President Bush issued a statement saying that Americans 'must obey the law.'

Unless you're an illegal immigrant.

When the Ten Commandments was removed from the courtroom, Rush Limbaugh said, "We must obey the law, or there will be anarchy."

Thus speaketh a pathetic drug addict who committed a felony ten times a day for years on end.

I just notice that all the people who condemn Roy Moore for putting the Ten Commandments in a courtroom on the basis of "We Must Obey the Law" turn out to be aiding and abetting, if not outright committing, bona fide felonies of their own.

[sinkspur]

I just notice that all the people who condemn Roy Moore for putting the Ten Commandments in a courtroom on the basis of "We Must Obey the Law" turn out to be aiding and abetting, if not outright committing, bona fide felonies of their own.

First, Bush said nothing at all, at any time, during the Moore fiasco. You're just flat lying about that.

Moore was obligated to follow the directives of a higher Federal court. If he didn't want to, he could have quit.

Instead, he decided to showboat on the issue, so that he could run on the Ten Commandments for governor, in 2006.

Rush Limbaugh is not a Supreme Court Justice; Moore is.

[drjimmy]

I just notice that all the people who condemn Roy Moore for putting the Ten Commandments in a courtroom on the basis of "We Must Obey the Law" turn out to be aiding and abetting, if not outright committing, bona fide felonies of their own.
You've named two people. Who are "all" the other felons condemning Moore?

[WackyKat]

I just notice that all the people who condemn Roy Moore for putting the Ten Commandments in a courtroom on the basis of "We Must Obey the Law" turn out to be aiding and abetting, if not outright committing, bona fide felonies of their own.

I have criticized Moore, Bush's immigration policy, and Rush's drug hypocrisy, so not "all" people fit your description.

I did once tear a tag off a mattress, though

[Revel]

On another note. It was shown that according to Alabama law Judge Moore should have been tried by the senate of Alabama. Not by any court at all. I have never heard an explanation for this.

[drjimmy]

On another note. It was shown that according to Alabama law Judge Moore should have been tried by the senate of Alabama. Not by any court at all. I have never heard an explanation for this.
Whoever showed that failed to read far enough into the Alabama constitution to know that amendment 317 provides for the Judicial Commission under which Moore was removed.

[microgood]

I did once tear a tag off a mattress, though

LOL..If you get caught, tell them you bought it that way from an illegal immigrant.

[microgood]

I think the main problem with all this is the trivialization of the federal courts. They are reduced to deciding whether a Ten Commandments Monument is more visibly displayed than the Magna Carta. They may need to hire some court interior decorators doubling as Federal Marshals to make sure each court and public park is fairly distributed. A lot of people have stated all they would have had to do is put a Magna Carta next to it and everything would be fine. They need a new circuit court called the Religious Separation Department of Decorating.

Of course my all time favorite Supreme Court ruling is that walking is not an integral part of the game of Golf. Spoken like true clueless aristocrats. They made the bed now they have to sleep in it.