August 8, 2016: The Alabama Court of the Judiciary hears Moore’s request to dismiss the charges. The court says Moore’s trial will begin September 28th if the case continues.
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“The probate judges were flapping in the wind”.
Moore had been removed as chief justice in 2003 for refusing to obey a federal judge’s order to remove a Ten Commandments monument from the judicial building housing the state supreme court.
“A thematic deception that infuses the JIC brief is that the Chief Justice ordered the probate judges that they ‘had a duty, under Alabama law, not to issue same-sex marriage licenses, ‘” the filing argues.
The Court of Judiciary said it will announce its decision within a few days.
It said that Moore was “bound by the United State Supreme Court’s interpretation and application” of the Constitution to same-sex “marriage”, but Moore notes that his letter had nothing to do with the Supreme Court order, and that the full court was to later issue directives about the matter after receiving legal briefing.
Meanwhile, a recent poll shows majority support among Republicans should Moore run for governor.
Attorneys for both sides gave arguments lasting an hour. Last week he lost his bid to have a federal court rule his civil rights were being violated by suspending him while the state court worked on his case, despite having infringed on the rights of same-sex couples. And he says Moore has done nothing to warrant a misconduct conviction. A lawyer for a judicial commission said this “defies common sense”.
Moore said the complaint was filed against him by people who “don’t want anybody opposing the agenda of the homosexual movement”.
“Alabama is a great state and deserves better than a chief justice who thinks he is above the law”.
HRC Alabama revealed a new billboard off I-85 in Montgomery calling out disgraced, notoriously anti-LGBTQ Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore.
“T$3 he injunction and the stay or the lifting thereof can only apply to the sole defendant, the Alabama attorney general”, Moore said. After the hearing, he spoke to a sign-waving crowd outside, saying there is “no evidence” he broke judicial ethics and predicting the charges would be dismissed.
The court concluded its hearing Monday around 3:45 PM EDT. That order said a previous state ban on issuing marriage licenses to gay couples remained in effect. “Judge Roy Moore is part of my family as a believer”, Chasom said.
The ethics case against Alabama Supreme Court Justice Roy Moore regarding his handling of the U.S. Supreme Court’s marriage decision will go to trial.
About 100 demonstrators who back Moore listened to speakers decrying homosexuality ahead of the hearing Monday afternoon. Moore denies any wrongdoing, and calls his suspension a violation of his rights. Moore could be removed from office if he is found guilty of misconduct. One man is waving a Christian flag with a red cross on it.
No supporters of gay marriage have showed up, and police have yet to make their presence known.
The Alabama Court of the Judiciary scheduled a hearing for Monday on judicial investigators’ request to remove Moore from office.
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There are rallies expected from both sides of this case outside the Supreme Court building before the hearing.
