BREAKING NEWS
NBC, MSNBC AND NEWS SERVICES
MONTGOMERY, Ala., Nov. 13 ? Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore, whose refusal to obey a federal order to move a Ten Commandments monument from a state building fueled a national debate over the place of God in public life, was stripped of his office Thursday.
THE STATE Court of the Judiciary unanimously imposed the harshest penalty possible after a one-day trial in which Moore said his refusal was a moral and lawful acknowledgment of God. Prosecutors said Moore?s defiance, left unchecked, would harm the judicial system.
Moore, who was halfway through his six-year term, had been suspended since August but was allowed to collect his $170,000 annual salary. Under Thursday?s decision, the governor will appoint someone to serve the rest of his term.
Speaking immediately after the decision, Moore said he would consult with religious and political leaders before deciding what to do next. He could appeal to the Alabama Supreme Court.
Many judicial officials and observers had predicted that Moore would survive in office, perhaps being handed a suspension or a fine, because some members of the ethics courts are elected to their positions and would prefer not to be remembered for voting against the 10 Commandments.
But presiding Judge William Thompson said in a statement read from the bench that the court could ?find no other viable alternatives? to removing Moore from office.
Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore with aides and family during Thursday's hearing.
By ?willfully and publicly? ignoring the federal court order, ?the chief justice placed himself above the law,? Thompson said, noting that Moore ?showed no signs of contrition.?
Moore remained defiant, telling supporters gathered outside after the ruling that he had only acknowledged God as was done in other official procedures and documents.
?That?s all I?ve done. I?ve been found guilty,? he said.
Richard Cohen, an attorney with the Southern Poverty Law Center, one of the plaintiffs that brought the suit against Moore, told The Montgomery Advertiser after the decision that the organization would file a petition with the Alabama Bar Association later in the day to have Moore disbarred.
?No one is above the law. That is the message today,? Cohen said. ?I think the rule of law was vindicated.?
In the Aug. 14 speech, which Moore gave six days before a U.S. district judge?s deadline to move the fixture, he said he had ?no intention of removing the monument.?
?This I cannot and will not do,? he said.
After a federal appeals court upheld the judge?s ruling, Moore?s eight fellow justices ordered the 5,300-pound granite monument moved to a storage room in the Judicial Building on Aug. 27. The U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear Moore?s appeal last week.
During the hearing Wednesday, Moore reiterated his stance that, given another chance to fulfill the court order, he again would refuse to do so.
When one of the panelists, Circuit Judge J. Scott Vowell of Birmingham, asked Moore what he would do with the monument if he were returned to office, the chief justice said he had not decided, but he added: ?I certainly wouldn?t leave it in a closet, shrouded from the public.?
Moore headed one of the few state supreme courts elected by the public. He has long been a champion of religious conservatives.
Greg Sealy, head of the Sitting at His Feet Fellowship in Montgomery, an inner-city mission, said Thursday was the ?darkest day? he had seen in America since he moved to the United States from Barbados 23 years ago.
?They stole my vote. The judiciary stole my vote. I voted for Roy Moore."
.........................................................................
So basically what these justices are saying is there is no room for God in Goverment buildings.
Maybe if there was a little more God in them Goverment buildings we wouldnt be in the mess we are in nowadays.
I can't believe that the Supreme Court would rule against God.
What is this world coming too ?
KOD
NBC, MSNBC AND NEWS SERVICES
MONTGOMERY, Ala., Nov. 13 ? Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore, whose refusal to obey a federal order to move a Ten Commandments monument from a state building fueled a national debate over the place of God in public life, was stripped of his office Thursday.
THE STATE Court of the Judiciary unanimously imposed the harshest penalty possible after a one-day trial in which Moore said his refusal was a moral and lawful acknowledgment of God. Prosecutors said Moore?s defiance, left unchecked, would harm the judicial system.
Moore, who was halfway through his six-year term, had been suspended since August but was allowed to collect his $170,000 annual salary. Under Thursday?s decision, the governor will appoint someone to serve the rest of his term.
Speaking immediately after the decision, Moore said he would consult with religious and political leaders before deciding what to do next. He could appeal to the Alabama Supreme Court.
Many judicial officials and observers had predicted that Moore would survive in office, perhaps being handed a suspension or a fine, because some members of the ethics courts are elected to their positions and would prefer not to be remembered for voting against the 10 Commandments.
But presiding Judge William Thompson said in a statement read from the bench that the court could ?find no other viable alternatives? to removing Moore from office.
Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore with aides and family during Thursday's hearing.
By ?willfully and publicly? ignoring the federal court order, ?the chief justice placed himself above the law,? Thompson said, noting that Moore ?showed no signs of contrition.?
Moore remained defiant, telling supporters gathered outside after the ruling that he had only acknowledged God as was done in other official procedures and documents.
?That?s all I?ve done. I?ve been found guilty,? he said.
Richard Cohen, an attorney with the Southern Poverty Law Center, one of the plaintiffs that brought the suit against Moore, told The Montgomery Advertiser after the decision that the organization would file a petition with the Alabama Bar Association later in the day to have Moore disbarred.
?No one is above the law. That is the message today,? Cohen said. ?I think the rule of law was vindicated.?
In the Aug. 14 speech, which Moore gave six days before a U.S. district judge?s deadline to move the fixture, he said he had ?no intention of removing the monument.?
?This I cannot and will not do,? he said.
After a federal appeals court upheld the judge?s ruling, Moore?s eight fellow justices ordered the 5,300-pound granite monument moved to a storage room in the Judicial Building on Aug. 27. The U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear Moore?s appeal last week.
During the hearing Wednesday, Moore reiterated his stance that, given another chance to fulfill the court order, he again would refuse to do so.
When one of the panelists, Circuit Judge J. Scott Vowell of Birmingham, asked Moore what he would do with the monument if he were returned to office, the chief justice said he had not decided, but he added: ?I certainly wouldn?t leave it in a closet, shrouded from the public.?
Moore headed one of the few state supreme courts elected by the public. He has long been a champion of religious conservatives.
Greg Sealy, head of the Sitting at His Feet Fellowship in Montgomery, an inner-city mission, said Thursday was the ?darkest day? he had seen in America since he moved to the United States from Barbados 23 years ago.
?They stole my vote. The judiciary stole my vote. I voted for Roy Moore."
.........................................................................
So basically what these justices are saying is there is no room for God in Goverment buildings.
Maybe if there was a little more God in them Goverment buildings we wouldnt be in the mess we are in nowadays.
I can't believe that the Supreme Court would rule against God.
What is this world coming too ?
KOD
Last edited:
