A federal judge is considering Moore’s lawsuit to overturn his suspension.
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Moore was removed from the bench as chief justice in 2003 after refusing a federal court order to remove a 10 Commandments monument from the state judicial building.
A hearing Monday will determine the course of the judicial ethics case against suspended Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore.
About 100 demonstrators who back Moore listened to speakers decrying homosexuality ahead of the hearing Monday afternoon.
But Moore’s order came more than six months after the U.S. Supreme Court in its Obergefell decision had ruled state bans on same-sex marriage were unconstitutional.
Moore told the probate judges a ban on issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples was still in effect until the Alabama Supreme Court issued a ruling. One man is waving a Christian flag with a red cross on it. Moore has been suspended from office after the Judicial Inquiry Commission accused him of violating the canons of judicial ethics with his actions during the fight over same-sex marriage.
Following Moore’s ethics hearing with the Court of the Judiciary, HRC Alabama will hold a press conference on the steps of the Alabama Supreme Court. “By issuing his unilateral order of January 6, 2016, Chief Justice Moore flagrantly disregarded a fundamental constitutional right guaranteed in all states as declared by the United States Court”, the commission writes.
Moore denies any wrongdoing and is asking the court to dismiss administrative charges filed earlier this year.
So Staver is hopeful today’s trial will resolve that issue as well as the question of whether the Judicial Inquiry Commission can remove a judge without a fair hearing, which Staver says is what happened.
Liberty Counsel argued that striking down the automatic removal provision would not interfere with the ongoing state proceeding as the merits of the charges filed by the Judicial Inquiry Commission will be separately decided in the Court of Judiciary.
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Moore opponents, led by Starling, and advocates lined up outside the judicial building in anticipation of the hearing.
