CureZone   Log On   Join
 

These Nut Cases Are Calling The Shots In White House! by wheelslip ..... Politics Debate Forum # 6 [Arc]

Date:   8/22/2003 8:28:38 PM ( 21 y ago)
Hits:   296
URL:   https://www.curezone.org/forums/fm.asp?i=619927

0 of 0 (0%) readers agree with this message.  Hide votes     What is this?

CHIEF JUSTICE Roy Moore’s actions next face a hearing before the state Court of the Judiciary after the
Judicial Inquiry Commission found merit in a complaint by Montgomery lawyer Stephen Glassroth that Moore violated
ethics rules by ignoring U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson’s order.
Moore, who was suspended with pay, had no immediate comment. He has 30 days to respond to the
Court of the Judiciary, which holds trial-like proceedings and can discipline and remove judges.
Moore met with the Judicial Inquiry Commission earlier as about 100 of his supporters, several blocks away at the
federal courthouse, ripped and burned a copy of Thompson’s order. Thompson threatened to impose
$5,000-a-day fines against the state if Moore left the monument in the rotunda.
Moore said he told the commission that he upheld his oath of office by acknowledging God. Moore has said
Thompson has no authority to tell the state’s chief justice to remove the monument.
Moore’s eight associate justices on the state’s high court ordered the granite marker taken away Thursday after
Thompson’s deadline passed. But court officials were still trying to determine Friday where it might go in the building
— it weighs 5,300 pounds — and whether the area would allow proper security.

ONE SANCTION AVOIDED
Moore sidestepped a contempt citation Friday morning when lawyers for civil liberties groups told Thompson on a
conference call that they were convinced that the monument would be out of the building by next week.
“Our concern all along has been compliance with the Constitution. Once the monument has been removed, our
concerns will have been addressed,” said Ayesha Khan, an attorney for civil liberties groups who participated in the call.
A second conference call on the matter was scheduled for next Friday.
The U.S. Supreme Court rejected Moore’s emergency plea for a stay of Thompson’s order late Wednesday
afternoon, but Moore was holding out hope that it would reverse course and agree to rule on the dispute over how
broadly the U.S. Constitution’s ban on government promotion of religion should be interpreted.
Moore returned Friday morning to the Judicial Building and talked to building manager Graham George, who was
instructed Thursday by the rest of the state justices to carry out Thompson’s order. It was not known what they said.

PROTESTERS MAINTAIN VIGIL
About 40 supporters of Moore kept vigil from their sleeping bags and bedrolls strewn outside the courthouse,
seeking to prevent the monument’s removal. The Rev. Herman Henderson of Believers’ Tabernacle
in Birmingham opted to nap on the concrete with his head resting on sheet music for the song “I Shall Not Be Moved.”
They remained quiet throughout the night, prompting police to retreat to their post across the street.

Commandments debate spans nation
Moore told cheering supporters Thursday that he would continue to defy Thompson’s order while asking the
U.S. Supreme Court to re-examine the divisive case. After rushing back to the state capital from a family funeral, he
said he was “very disappointed” by the order issued by his associate justices.
“The people of this state elected me chief justice to uphold our constitution,” he said on the steps of the building
as supporters briefly stopped singing “We Shall Overcome” to allow him to speak. “... To do my duty, I must
acknowledge God. That’s what this case is about.” The Ten Commandments monument
sits in the rotunda of Alabama's judical building in Montgomery. Alabama Attorney General Bill
Pryor indicated that the court might try to avoid a confrontation
by moving the monument to a private room rather than taking it out of the
building. But the protesters said they would block access to the building to prevent workers from bringing in tools
necessary to move the monument. "We are committed to peacefully and prayerfully seeing
that this monument is not taken out,” said the Rev. Patrick Mahoney of the Washington-based Christian Defense
Coalition.

21 PROTESTERS ARRESTED
Moore’s supporters have been on the steps of the building since Wednesday, singing and praying. Some who
entered the rotunda Wednesday and refused to leave voluntarily were removed in handcuffs.
Twenty-one protesters were arrested and taken to the Montgomery County Jail, where they were charged with
trespassing. Most were released on their own recognizance. Moore, who installed
the monument in the rotunda of the judicial building two years ago in
the middle of the night, has said he regards the commandments as a
symbol of the Judeo-Christian foundation of U.S. law. The U.S. Supreme Court has never ruled on the
constitutionality of such indoor and outdoor government displays. In 1980, it barred the Ten Commandments from
classroom walls in public schools.

MSNBC.com’s Mike Brunker and Alex Johnson, The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this
report.
 

<< Return to the standard message view

fetched in 0.02 sec, referred by http://www.curezone.org/forums/fmp.asp?i=619927