Post by coolguy on Apr 30, 2004 16:23:17 GMT -5
Alabama Won't Reinstate Ten Commandments Judge
Fri Apr 30, 2004 03:23 PM ET
By Verna Gates
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (Reuters) - Alabama's highest court has refused to reinstate former Chief Justice Roy Moore, who was fired last year for refusing to remove a Ten Commandments monument from a courthouse, Moore said on Friday.
Seven stand-in members of the Alabama Supreme Court voted unanimously to uphold the state's decision to sack the fundamentalist Christian judge for his defiance last summer, according to a statement from Moore and his lawyers.
The court's written decision is expected later on Friday.
Moore, who was elected Alabama's chief justice in 2000, rose to national prominence in August 2003 when he disobeyed a federal order to get the Ten Commandments display out of a public area in the state judiciary building in Montgomery.
U.S. District Court Judge Myron Thompson had ruled that the 5,000-pound (2.3-tonne) stone marker, installed by Moore and his supporters in 2001, violated the constitutional ban on government promotion of religion.
Moore contended the order was unlawful, flying in the face of his constitutional obligation to acknowledge God.
A panel of mostly retired judges was assembled late last year after Alabama's eight sitting Supreme Court justices recused themselves from his appeal due to a possible conflict of interest.
"The elected representatives of the people, the eight associate justices of the Alabama Supreme Court, hid behind the robes of an illegally appointed, politically selected court," Moore said on Friday. "It is political in nature."
Moore's stand triggered a national debate over the role of religion in public life, prompting thousands of fundamentalist Christians to rally to his side and several state legislatures to consider legislation to protect Ten Commandments displays.
Civil libertarians, however, accused Moore and his supporters of trying impose their religious beliefs on others.
Fri Apr 30, 2004 03:23 PM ET
By Verna Gates
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (Reuters) - Alabama's highest court has refused to reinstate former Chief Justice Roy Moore, who was fired last year for refusing to remove a Ten Commandments monument from a courthouse, Moore said on Friday.
Seven stand-in members of the Alabama Supreme Court voted unanimously to uphold the state's decision to sack the fundamentalist Christian judge for his defiance last summer, according to a statement from Moore and his lawyers.
The court's written decision is expected later on Friday.
Moore, who was elected Alabama's chief justice in 2000, rose to national prominence in August 2003 when he disobeyed a federal order to get the Ten Commandments display out of a public area in the state judiciary building in Montgomery.
U.S. District Court Judge Myron Thompson had ruled that the 5,000-pound (2.3-tonne) stone marker, installed by Moore and his supporters in 2001, violated the constitutional ban on government promotion of religion.
Moore contended the order was unlawful, flying in the face of his constitutional obligation to acknowledge God.
A panel of mostly retired judges was assembled late last year after Alabama's eight sitting Supreme Court justices recused themselves from his appeal due to a possible conflict of interest.
"The elected representatives of the people, the eight associate justices of the Alabama Supreme Court, hid behind the robes of an illegally appointed, politically selected court," Moore said on Friday. "It is political in nature."
Moore's stand triggered a national debate over the role of religion in public life, prompting thousands of fundamentalist Christians to rally to his side and several state legislatures to consider legislation to protect Ten Commandments displays.
Civil libertarians, however, accused Moore and his supporters of trying impose their religious beliefs on others.
