The Court of the Judiciary in Alabama yesterday unanimously removed from office Chief Justice Roy Moore. According to the Court, Moore brought “disrepute” to Alabama’s judiciary when he defied a federal order to remove a 2.5-ton monument to the Ten Commandments from the rotunda of the state’s Supreme Court building. Moore had secretly installed the monument in the middle of the night in 2001.
A New York Times editorial commended the Court for removing Moore from office, saying that “the court rightly found that Mr. Moore lacked the most basic requirement for judicial office: respect for the rule of law.” “Moore flagrantly announced his intention to violate a federal court order, made a mockery of the legal system and created an unseemly media circus,” said Rev. Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, which helped sponsor the litigation against Moore. “Today, he learned the results of that defiance. The Court of the Judiciary has served the cause of justice.”
However, Bradley Moore, a political science professor at Auburn University, told the Washington Post that “this is the best thing that could happen to him – he can really go around the country reveling in his martyrdom.” In fact, many believe that Moore is considering capitalizing on his notoriety with a run for the US Senate or as a challenger to Gov. Bob Riley (R), according to the Los Angeles Times.