Judge keeps 10 commandments

This is a good thing.





Judge keeps Ten Commandments


By Julia Duin
THE WASHINGTON TIMES



Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore yesterday defied a court order to remove a large granite monument emblazoned with the Ten Commandments from a state judicial building on the grounds that God's law supercedes state and even federal law.
"I have no intention of removing the monument," he said at a press conference in Montgomery. "This I cannot and will not do."
He will ask the U.S. Supreme Court today to strike down the order that would remove his 5,280-pound, 4-foot-high granite monument from its roped-off corner of the rotunda of the state judiciary building.
"The issue in this case is the state of Alabama can acknowledge God," Chief Justice Moore told Fox News. The state constitution "invokes the favoring guidance of Almighty God and no federal court has declared [Alabama´s] constitution unconstitutional."
"It's very important that, as the chief administrative officer of the justice system, that I uphold my oath to the Alabama Constitution as well as the U.S. Constitution. Neither the First Amendment nor the Alabama Constitution forbid an acknowledgment of God."
The Supreme Court will see things his way, he predicted, "because we are following U.S. Supreme Court law as to its definition of religion, which recognizes a Creator in higher law. So we have every right as a state to acknowledge God."
Called "Roy's rock" by some and likened in size to a washing machine by others, the monument has raised hackles ever since it was secretly installed late on the night of July 31, 2001.
Chief Justice Moore defended the way in which the monument was brought into the building, saying it had been paid for with private funds and that the appropriate state officials knew of its installation.
But on Oct. 30, 2001, the American Civil Liberties Union, in conjunction with Americans United for Separation of Church and State, filed suit against Chief Justice Moore, saying his display of the Ten Commandments was an unconstitutional establishment of religion in a government building.
A U.S. district court under Judge Myron Thompson ruled against Chief Justice Moore on Nov. 18, 2002. On July 1, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals also ruled against Chief Justice Moore, saying displays on government property cannot promote or be affiliated with a religion.
Judge Thompson gave the state until Aug. 20 to remove the monument, threatening $5,000 a day in fines if Chief Justice Moore did not comply.
Opponents compared the chief justice to 1960s-era segregationists who also opposed federal court orders.
"Justice Moore is repeating the shameful legacy of Alabama Governor George Wallace, who stood in the schoolhouse door in opposition to a federal court order to desegregate all-white schools," said Olivia Turner, executive director of the Alabama ACLU.
"If Chief Justice Moore can decide which federal court opinions he wants to comply with, then nobody's rights are safe from any state officials who disagree with the law."
Bruce Fein, a specialist in constitutional law in the District, said the case "doesn't have a ghost of a chance" of going to the nation's highest court.
"Someone coming into that court seeking remedy must have clean hands," Mr. Fein said. "Where has he pledged that, if the U.S. Supreme Court affirms [the circuit court ruling], he will obey it?
"He is leaving open the prospect that even if the court rules against him 9-0, he will disobey it. What are we going to have to do, call out the National Guard?"
Chief Justice Moore's mentality, Mr. Fein added, "epitomizes the lawlessness of massive resistance in the South to desegregation decrees. It epitomizes a disrespect for the rule of law totally incompatible with the office of judging. He is inviting anarchy."
But the justice, a Baptist, is used to conflict over his insistence that God should be recognized in the public square.
He has been in the public eye since 1995, when the ACLU sued him for posting a plaque of the Ten Commandments on the walls of his courtroom in the Etowah County Courthouse, where he was a circuit judge. Although the case was eventually thrown out on a technicality, both sides agreed the merits of the case were never ruled on.
Chief Justice Moore became nationally famous over the 1995 case and huge crowds turned out in rallies supporting his cause. In 2000, he easily defeated a Democratic opponent to become the state's chief justice.
Yesterday, he hinted that demonstrators may seek to block any effort to move the monument.
"As long as it's peaceful," he told Fox News, "I don't have any opposition to civil disobedience."

[1952Sniper]

Hurrah for Justice Moore! It's about time somebody had the gonads to stand up to the whiny liberal bed-wetters and tell them that the First Amendment does not preclude our government from involving religion.

The First Amendment merely states that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof...".

It does not say religion is outlawed. It does not say religion has no place in law.

Justice Moore is not a member of Congress. He has not passed any laws. Therefore the First Amendment cannot possibly be relevant here.

Seems pretty simple to me.

[inplanotx]

I saw it on the news this morning. Hooray for Justice Moore. I hope that he helps crush this idiotic way of thinking and keep our freedoms sane!

[Marlin]

Justice Moore is a fine Christian gentleman and a strict constitutionalist. He is a real credit to Alabama and to the United States.

Would that he were on the U. S. Supreme Court instead of some of those presently defending global government instead of upholding both their oath of office and our great Constitution.

Thank you Roy for having a backbone.....

[1952Sniper]

Folks, this fight is going to get interesting. It goes far beyond the First Amendment, and goes all the way to States' Rights. Justice Moore is a State Justice. I find the following part of this story very interesting:

The preamble to Alabama’s Constitution reads, “We, the people of the State of Alabama, in order to establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, invoking the favor and guidance of Almighty God, do ordain and establish the following Constitution and form of government for the State of Alabama.”

Upon being sworn in as the Chief Justice of Alabama, Roy Moore pledged to support and defend the Constitution of the state of Alabama. Now, a group of federal judges has intervened in an attempt to essentially rewrite the Constitution of Alabama.

These judges want to prohibit Alabama’s practice of “invoking the favor and guidance of Almighty God,” which is expressly written in the Alabama Constitution. By doing so, these judges have shown a blatant disregard for the Tenth Amendment of the United States Constitution, which reads, “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”

Essentially, if they succeed in making him remove this monument, they are further degrading States' Rights. The ever-intrusive Federal government never quits.

[Marlin]

Superb point, Toby. Thank you.

I'm afraid that very few people see, let alone understand, that the great fight that has been going on is to undermine all that we hold dear, not just one point or another.

We, indeed, need to keep focused on the total war and not just each battle. That is not to say we must forego any particular battle but only to say KEEP FOCUSED on the total picture as we fight!

Here is an update.

MONTGOMERY, Ala. - State Supreme Court justices overruled Chief Justice Roy Moore on Thursday and directed that his Ten Commandments monument be removed from its public site in the Alabama Judicial Building.




The senior associate justice, Gorman Houston, said the eight associate justices instructed the building's manager to "take all steps necessary to comply ... as soon as practicable." Some supporters of Moore vowed to fight the move through civil disobedience.


A federal judge had ruled the monument violates the constitution's ban on government establishment of religion and must be removed from its public place in the rotunda. He had set Thursday as his deadline, but Moore said he would not move it.


The associate justices wrote that they are "bound by solemn oath to follow the law, whether they agree or disagree with it."


The monument was briefly walled off from public view Thursday as U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson's deadline passed for the marker to be out of public sight. Then the plywood-like wall came down, displaying the monument again.


Houston said the building manager may have put up the partition in order for the state to be in compliance until the associate justices made a decision. Their seven-page order, signed by all eight, was issued about 10 a.m. The partition had blocked public view of the monument from about 6:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.


Moore's spokesman, Tom Parker, said Moore was out of town for a family funeral but decided to return to Montgomery when he learned the monument had been walled from public view.


"This is an example of what is happening in this country: the acknowledgment of God as the moral foundation of law in this nation is being hidden from us," Moore said in a statement.


But attorney Ayesha Khan, an attorney for the plaintiffs fighting to get the monument removed, said the associate justices' decision "just shows what an extremist Roy Moore is, that all eight of the other justices are refusing to stand with him."


Earlier, another plaintiffs' attorney, Richard Cohen, said a motion was filed with Thompson asking that Moore be held in contempt. It was not immediately clear if the associate justices' action would make the motion moot. Thompson, who had threatened to fine the state $5,000 a day, had not been expected to take up the matter until Friday.


Attorney General Bill Pryor said he filed notice with Thompson that the monument would be moved under the associate justices' order, and thinks the state will now avoid having to pay the contempt fine.


State taxpayers, he added, "should not be punished for the refusal of the chief justice to follow a federal court order."


About three dozen Moore supporters, some promising peaceful civil disobedience if the monument is removed, remained outside the building, which was locked for the day to the general public. The demonstrators were angry with the associate justices' decision.


"They're supposed to hold up the state constitution, just like Roy Moore is doing," said Jerry Layne, a self-described street preacher from Chattanooga, Tenn., who wore an American flag hat. "Now his own kind is going against him. They're abusing the law and misusing the law."


On Wednesday, 21 protesters who had surrounded the monument were arrested for refusing to leave the building. They were charged with trespassing, and most were released on their recognizance.


The U.S. Supreme Court (news - web sites) had rejected Moore's emergency plea for a stay of the federal court order Wednesday afternoon, declining at least for the time being to be drawn into the dispute.


Moore, who installed the 5,300-pound granite monument in the rotunda of the judicial building two years ago in the middle of the night, said afterward that he did not consider the case over. He had said he still planned to appeal to the Supreme Court on the merits of the case.





The monument has not been viewed as a partisan issue. Moore is a Republican; seven of the eight associate justices also are Republicans.

[Wallace]

And yesterday Judge Moore was suspended from the bench!

This man should not have to fight this battle alone. I really think this could turn out to be a good thing and drop the liberal twisting of the Constitution back to what it was intended to do. Those that see this, should all get involved--Wallace


(I'm new here so let me know if I mess up in some way)

Welcome Wallace

It is a shame that he got suspended. I have a feeling this fight is not over yet.

[ruffitt]

Welcome friend. I have been waiting for you to get over here and begin partaking of the merriment we offer.

To all who come here, let me introduce you to Wallace, otherwise known as "The Conservative". I have been a member of his board ( The Conservative's) since the beginning of the month. I invited him here as I am positive that certain of our members will appreciate what he offers on his web site.

Wallace, if you will check out our Constitution and RKBA section, you will see a post made by armed&safe that is similar to the one I made at your place. I am sure many of the people here will add their name to the petition (at least I would hope so)..

[Wallace]

Thanks for the welcome Warpig!

It's just like 1952Sniper says, "the free expression thereof".

_______

Gosh I posted too soon. Just posted and there was Ruffitt's reply. Thanks too for what you said, have done, and for the invite here as well. I think I suffer from so much to type, so little time, and so much time correcting myhundreds of typing mistakes!

Yes, your signature is better here.

_______

Thanks for the welcome 1952Sniper! I'm sure great minds always think alike.

[1952Sniper]

I'd like to welcome you too, Wallace. It seems that we think alike.

And if Ruffitt endorses you, then you must be good people.

[Marlin]

Welcome, Wallace. We hope you will join us often and post often.

It's nice to know someone else on the Conservative and Constitutional rights side is here. We need all the help we can get in trying to steer those uninformed back to the vision of the Founding Fathers.

BTW folks. My friend, Roy Moore, couldn't be more serious about also trying to uphold the Constitution as envisioned by the Foundings. He is right but the PC crowd will continue to have a field day at his expense.

I can vouch for the fact that it is a hard life for a Jurist that is a solid backer of the Constitution but I never waivered and never shall.

[armedandsafe]

Ruffitt,
Thanks for posting the link to PatriotPetitions over at Robby's. To tell the truth, I had forgotton there was a forum over there.

Pops

[ruffitt]

Glad to do it pops.

Giotta get the word regarding this sort of stuff to everyone we can.

Put it on 4 of the 6 forums that I am a member of.

[Marlin]

Thank you, too, Ruff.

The only way we are going to accomplish the re-establishment of the visions of the Founding Fathers is to get the word out there loudly and clearly.

One drop alone isn't much but when gathered together, it makes an ocean.

[ruffitt]

My pleasure, pops and Marlin.

"Roy's Rock" took 8 hrs. to set, and 2hrs to remove and be placed in a dark room someplace.

Gone by ... the days of Common Sense!

[Marlin]

All the more reason to pray for our country to return to the ideals of the Founding Fathers and to ask special help for my friend, Roy Moore, fighting his wrongly threatened very job. We need every courthouse in the country to be filled with such dedicated constitutionalists.

[1952Sniper]

I fully agree. However, I think Roy Moore could have done a better job in the public relations department. He sure has done a lot of fire-and-brimstone type preaching lately. All that did was turn a lot of people off.

I think he would have served his (our) cause a lot better if he had focused on the Constitutionality of it all. He should have better addressed the issue of States' Rights and the First Amendment. Those are the real issues at stake, with regard to the law.

[Marlin]

Goes to show he's human, Toby. It was such a passion for him that he obviously got caught up in the moment, trying to do his best but the human nature shining through.