Above The Law?: Ala. Chief Jurist Demands No Accountability
Rob Boston printable version print page     Bookmark and Share
Tue May 31, 2016 at 10:46:27 AM EST

Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore is in legal hot water again and has no one to blame but himself - but, as usual, he doesn't want to accept responsibility for his actions.

As we reported previously, Moore has been temporarily suspended from the Alabama Supreme Court in the wake of charges that were filed against him by the Alabama Judicial Inquiry Commission. The commission, acting on complaints filed by state residents, sent the matter to the Alabama Court of the Judiciary, which will investigate. If Moore is found guilty, he could be removed from the court.

All of this came about because Moore decided to defy the U.S. Supreme Court on the issue of marriage equality. In June of 2015, the high court handed down a decision in Obergefell v. Hodges recognizing the right of same-sex couples to marry under the Equal Protection and Due Process clauses of the U.S. Constitution's 14th Amendment. Moore responded a few months later by issuing a strange administrative order directing all probate judges in the state to refuse marriages licenses to same-sex couples.

To no one's surprise, this brazen act of defiance of the highest court in the land got Moore in trouble. The charges are serious and deserve a full hearing, and Moore should have every opportunity to offer a defense. But rather than take part in this process, Moore is trying to gum up the works: He is suing in federal court, arguing that a provision in Alabama law requiring that state judges be suspended while they are facing ethics charges is unconstitutional.

Moore's lawsuit, the Associated Press reported, contends that the Alabama Judicial Inquiry Commission "can wield its significant power over Alabama's elected judges - including the chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court - based upon trivialities, viewpoint-based objections, differences in legal interpretation, political motivations or, even worse, to protect itself from investigation of violations of its own rules."

Mat Staver of Liberty Counsel is representing Moore in court. Staver said, "We are asking the federal court to strike down the automatic removal provision in the Alabama State Constitution and we are asking that Chief Justice Moore be immediately reinstated."

Talk about chutzpah! Moore openly defied a ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court. He ordered lower court judges in the state to deny citizens a right the high court said they had. He did this knowingly. He was flagrant about it. He was motivated not by respect for the law but by his own extreme religious views.

And now he's arguing that no state entity should be able to hold him accountable for his unlawful actions.

As you may recall, this is the second time Moore has tangled with judicial oversight bodies in Alabama. The first incident didn't end well for him. Moore ignored a federal court ruling and refused to remove a Ten Commandments monument from the Judicial Building in Montgomery. (The legal challenge, by the way, was brought by Americans United, the American Civil Liberties Union and the Southern Poverty Law Center.)

In 2003, Moore was removed from the court for his antics. He ran unsuccessfully for governor in 2006 and 2010. While Alabama voters rejected him for the governor's mansion, they did see fit for some reason to return him to the state high court in 2012. Once back on the bench, Moore was soon up to his old tricks of attempting to merge his version of fundamentalist Christianity with the law.

Moore seems utterly incapable of engaging in any form of self-reflection. He wouldn't be in this mess if he hadn't disobeyed a higher court's ruling. But it's never his fault, is it? The Alabama Judicial Inquiry Commission must be to blame. (I thought conservatives were supposed to be for personal responsibility?)

Here's hoping the federal court quickly disposes of Moore's lawsuit, clearing the way for him to be held accountable for the mess that he - and only he - has made.


 





Display:
Roy Moore puts his own beliefs above the rule of law. He deserves to be removed from the bench permanently, and if Alabama law permits it, to be permanently banned from running for judicial office in the future. What concerns me is that the Alabama voters will vote once more to restore him to the Supreme Court.

by khughes1963 on Tue May 31, 2016 at 11:17:53 AM EST
would have been dis-barred, or whatever it is called when a lawyer is kicked out of licensure in the state.

by NancyP on Tue May 31, 2016 at 01:01:01 PM EST
Parent
Lawyers and judges are both bound by their state's codes of professional responsibility, or professional conduct. Judges also have to follow their state's code of judicial conduct. A judge can be removed from office for violating the code of judicial conduct, but the violation may not be a violation of the state rules of professional conduct. For example, Phill Klein was disbarred in Kansas for breaching the state code of professional conduct. The judges in the kids for cash scheme in Pennsylvania resigned for breaching Pennsylvania's code of judicial conduct, the Feds also prosecuted them, one took a plea, the other was tried and convicted on criminal offenses related to the scheme. Both were found in violation of Pennsylvania's code of professional conduct by reason of their criminal convictions, and both were disbarred. Different states may call disbarment different things, and in some states, disbarment is permanent, while in other states, it is not.

by khughes1963 on Tue May 31, 2016 at 05:52:20 PM EST
Parent
It was Phill Kline. The Supreme Court of Kansas indefinitely suspended Kline's law license. What floors me is that he is teaching ethics at Liberty University's law school.

by khughes1963 on Tue May 31, 2016 at 05:58:17 PM EST
Parent
He is supposedly pro-life so I guess that means he feels he can violate ethics laws.  These dominionist folks believe they are at war with secular society so they can lie and say they are doing it for the advancement of God's kingdom on earth.

by Seeker2 on Wed Jun 01, 2016 at 10:09:01 PM EST
Parent
"ProLife" is really "ProBirth" at any cost

He would sacrifice the lives of women and children to force a births from them at any cost. Life? Depends on where, and when not who.

by Nightgaunt on Mon Jun 06, 2016 at 02:28:34 PM EST
Parent




I mean, in his suit pertaining to his unseating while NOT found guilty yet for his actions, can he find any support for the contention that he should remain seated until found guilty?

I hope that his actions are already enough to keep him off the bench, but I've seen worse twists of justice, though ianal. hehe



by trog69 on Wed Jun 01, 2016 at 12:40:37 AM EST
Parent

What I know about lawyers' and judges' licensure and other state requirements is pretty slim.

by NancyP on Wed Jun 01, 2016 at 10:46:03 AM EST
Parent




All of this came about because Moore decided to defy the U.S. Supreme Court on the issue of marriage equality. In June of 2015, the high court handed down a decision in Obergefell v. Hodges recognizing the right of same-sex couples to marry under the Equal Protection and Due Process clauses of the U.S. Constitution's 14th Amendment. Moore responded a few months later by issuing a strange administrative order directing all probate judges in the state to refuse marriages licenses to same-sex couples.

For them they are revolting to change the US "back" into the country they want that never existed. But close and especially in the 17th century.

by Nightgaunt on Mon Jun 06, 2016 at 02:22:44 PM EST


The judicial company always try to do decision according to the law. I write my essay cheap on this topic because I spend my most of the time on research law and other related fields. So, I have good experience in it.

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