Former Alabama Justice Loses Reinstatement Bid
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — A stand-in Supreme Court on Friday unanimously rejected Roy Moore’s bid to be reinstated as Alabama’s chief justice, the latest legal chapter in the saga surrounding his fight to keep a Ten Commandments monument in a courthouse rotunda.
In a 7-0 decision, the court dismissed each of Moore’s reasons for overturning his ouster by an ethics panel last year. The written opinion was released Friday afternoon.
“Chief Justice Moore cites no authority that provides an exception to the rule of law that one must obey a court order or that would allow disobedience to a court order on the basis of one’s religious beliefs,” the court wrote.
The justices also denied Moore’s request to lessen his punishment.
Moore was expelled from office for refusing to obey a federal court order to move a 5,300-pound Ten Commandments monument from the rotunda of the Alabama Judicial Building.
Seven retired judges were selected to hear Moore’s appeal after the state’s justices disqualified themselves because of their earlier involvement in the case.
Moore has said he would appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, but it was not immediately clear whether that remained his plan.
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