Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore could be removed again, this time over gay-marriage order
Chief Justice Roy Moore. (Photo from the Alabama Supreme Court.)
Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore’s defiance of court decisions could lead to his removal from his post for a second time.
Moore was suspended on Friday as a result of pending ethics charges (PDF) by Alabama’s Judicial Inquiry Commission, report Al.com, the Washington Post and the New York Times. The commission alleges that Moore failed to follow “clear law” when he ordered probate judges to enforce the state’s ban on same-sex marriage, despite the U.S. Supreme Court decision finding a constitutional right to gay marriage.
Moore won election as chief justice in 2012. He was removed from the same position in 2003 for refusing to obey a federal judge’s order to remove a Ten Commandments monument from the judicial building housing the state supreme court.
Moore said in a statement that the commission was influenced by advocates for the rights of gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transvestites. “We intend to fight this agenda vigorously and expect to prevail,” he said.
