Alabama court suspends Chief Justice Roy Moore for gay marriage license stance
Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore was declared guilty of violating judicial ethics for allegedly ordering other judges not to issue same-sex marriage licenses. He has been suspended for the remainder of his term without pay.
"This was a politically motivated effort by radical homosexual and transgender groups to remove me as chief justice of the Supreme Court because of outspoken opposition to their immoral agenda," Moore said in a statement.
Moore, who serves as an elder in his church, had argued previously that he never encouraged anyone to defy a federal court order and said that he is merely providing a status update.
On Jan. 6, Moore issued a memo to his colleagues at the Alabama Supreme Court informing them of an order that halted the issuance of same-sex marriage licenses in March 2015.
"Until further decision by the Alabama Supreme Court, the existing orders of the Alabama Supreme Court ... remain in full force and effect," he wrote, adding, "I am not at liberty to provide any guidance to Alabama probate judges on the effect of Obergefell on the existing orders of the Alabama Supreme Court. That issue remains before the entire court, which continues to deliberate on the matter."
Moore was referring to the Obergefell v. Hodges case in June 2015 in which the U.S. Supreme Court declared same-sex marriage legal.
The Alabama Court of the Judiciary (COJ) ruled that Moore's memo did contain orders to the probate judges. Moore was suspended, but he had not been removed as a judge because it requires a unanimous vote.
Moore was also suspended in 2003 for refusing to remove the Ten Commandments monument he installed at a state building. He was re-elected as chief justice in 2012. According to his lawyer, Mat Staver, Moore will not be able to seek re-election after the end of his term in January 2019 because of age restrictions.
Richard Cohen, president of the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), welcomed the court's decision. "Moore was elected to be a judge, not a preacher," he said in a statement. SPLC was one of the groups that filed a judicial ethics complaint against the chief justice.
