Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community - View Single Post - Alabama Justice Won't Remove Commandments

The_Dude · 08-14-2003, 02:10 PM

Quote:

MONTGOMERY, Ala. - The chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court said Thursday he will not remove a Ten Commandments monument from the state judicial building, defying a federal court order to remove the granite monument.

"I have no intention of removing the monument," Roy Moore said at a news conference. "This I cannot and will not do."

Moore said he will appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court (news - web sites) to stop any removal.

His decision came six days before the Aug. 20 deadline for the 5,300-pound monument to be removed from the building's rotunda, where it is in clear sight of visitors coming in the main entrance.

U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson of Montgomery, who ruled the monument violates the constitution's ban on government promotion of religion, had said fines of about $5,000 a day would have been imposed against the state if the monument were not removed.

Moore accused Thompson of a "callous disregard for the people of Alabama" and their tax dollars.

In Pennsylvania on Wednesday, a federal appeals court refused to reconsider a ruling that allowed a decades-old Ten Commandments plaque to remain on the facade of a courthouse in suburban Philadelphia.

A three-judge panel of the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals (news - web sites) panel had ruled in June that the 1920 plaque did not constitute an official endorsement of religion because county commissioners who wanted to keep it were motivated by historic preservation. The full court on Wednesday unanimously refused to reconsider that ruling.

Moore made his announcement at the Judicial Building, where supporters cheered his stand.

He noted that Thompson had served notice of the monument removal order to the governor, attorney general and eight Supreme Court associated justices. This is an attempt "to intimidate these state officials," Moore said.

He said the "acknowledgment of almighty god" is the foundation of the country and its legal system and referred to Alabama's motto: "We Dare Defend Our Rights."

Moore said he would file his first pleading with the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday.

When elected chief justice three years ago, Moore was already known nationally as the "Ten Commandments judge" for his legal fight to keep a hand-carved Ten Commandments display posted on the wall of his courtroom in Gadsden, where he was a circuit judge.

In office as chief justice, he had the gray granite Ten Commandments monument moved into the judicial building in the middle of the night on July 31, 2001, without announcing the event to the public or to the news media. He did inform a Christian television ministry, which filmed the installation and used it on the TV program.

The monument contains two Ten Commandments tablets cut into the top of a large stone about the size of a washing machine. Along the sides are quotes from Thomas Jefferson, George Washington and other historical figures and documents concerning the influence of religion on American law.

Moore said he had the monument installed because he believes the Ten Commandments to be the moral foundation of American law.

In October 2001, the Southern Poverty Law Center, Americans United for Separation of Church and State and the American Civil Liberties Union (news - web sites) filed a lawsuit on behalf of three Alabama lawyers who said they often had business to attend to inside the judiciary building and were offended by the monument. After a weeklong trial, Thompson ruled last year that the monument was an unconstitutional endorsement of religion by the state.

Moore had testified during the trial that one reason he became interested in the public display of the Ten Commandments was because of what he called a decline of moral values in America, which he blamed on federal court rulings concerning prayer in school and other issues.

He also contended the federal judge had no authority to tell the state's chief justice to remove the monument.

Moore appealed Thompson's order, but a three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled unanimously against Moore, saying in part that his argument echoed state's rights claims of segregationists such as Alabama's Gov. George C. Wallace in the 1960s.

Moore has said he would appeal for a final ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court.

Several religious groups have scheduled a rally on the Capitol steps for Saturday to protest Thompson's decision. Organizers have said they expect thousands to come to Montgomery from across the country for the rally. Religious groups have also said Christians would kneel in prayer in front of the monument if there is an attempt by Thompson to have it removed.

this guy is acting like the courthouse is his private residence moving things in at night and stuff.

there is no historic value to the monument, since it was smuggled in buy moore at night after he was elected into office.

and secondly, he has defied orders from a federal court. the fed court clearly has jurisdiction cuz this can go back to the 1st ammendment.