JUDGES SELECTED TO HEAR TEN COMMANDMENTS APPEAL

Drudge Report link ^ | Dec. 15, 2003 | AP wire

[varina davis]

Dec 15, 8:20 PM (ET)

By BOB JOHNSON

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) - Seven retired judges, including a former governor, were selected randomly in a lottery Monday to hear Roy Moore's appeal of his ouster as chief justice, the latest unprecedented twist in his Ten Commandments case.

The drawing came just hours after all eight Supreme Court justices disqualified themselves from hearing the appeal because of their earlier involvement in the monument case.

Moore was ousted on Nov. 13 by a judicial ethics panel for refusing to obey a federal judge's order to remove his 5,300-pound Ten Commandments monument from the rotunda of the state judicial building. The eight justices had the monument moved to a storage room in August after Moore refused to do so.

To pick a replacement court for Moore's appeal, the names of all of the state's retired circuit, district and appeals court judges - except those physically unable to serve - were placed in a box and the seven names were drawn by Supreme Court Clerk Bob Esdale.

Only six members of the court are required to hear a case, but seven were chosen in order to avoid a tie vote.

The seven chosen include former Gov. John Patterson, who is also a retired criminal appeals court judge, and retired Supreme Court Justice Janie Shores.

Troy King, legal adviser to Gov. Bob Riley, said the governor had agreed to certify the seven judges.

Acting Chief Justice Gorman Houston called the proceeding "absolutely historic" - and "a tragedy." He said the only similar case occurred during an unsuccessful attempt by the Legislature to impeach several Supreme Court Justices in 1829.

Former Supreme Court Chief Justice C. C. "Bo" Torbert said he believes the drawing of the judges for the special court is unprecedented.

"I don't recall anything like this," Torbert said.

A Moore attorney said two of the replacement judges appear to have conflicts, but he did not provide names.

"The process produced at least two additional justices where questions of impartiality will likely require their recusal or disqualification from this appointed court," Phillip Jauregui said.

Jauregui also wanted Houston to have no part in the selection of replacement justices because of comments he had made to news reporters and because of the part he and the other justices played in having the monument moved.

Moore, who is known nationally as "the Ten Commandments judge," had the granite monument moved into the judicial building on July 31, 2001, saying the Ten Commandments represent the moral foundation of American law. A federal judge found the monument to be an unconstitutional promotion of religion by government following a trial in 2002.

[Happy2BMe]

"He got a fair shake last time around."

That is your opinion, is it not, Sinkspur?

Why is it that just two states away in Texas, placing the Ten Commandments in a public court building is legal yet the very same act is illegal in Alabama?

[Happy2BMe]

"The Ten Commandments - BANNED. Crucifix in Pee-Pee APPROVED FOR A $800,000 GRANT."

How about it Sinkspur, do you approve of the National Endowment of the Arts grant of tax payer dollars to display a crucifix in urine?

[Happy2BMe]

"This from the same Supremes who think:
1. Child (simulated) porn is protected in the constitution but political speech (CFR) is not. (puke)
2. Racial discrimination is okay wrt to the 14th but you cant 'discriminate' by forbidding certain sex acts. (100% contrary to original intent of 14th A!)
3. Killing preborn human beings is a constitutional right even to the point of calling the partial birth abortion ban unconstitutional. (the very essense of judicial legislating )."

The next step in denying God's sovereignty over the United States will go to these nine people . .

"The question is or at least ought to be, how can such a small, godless, minority have such influence over our courts and legislative processes?"

Answer:

U.S. Supreme Court, 2003 - The Oligarchy*

(All Your Sovereignty Are Belong To Us!)

Back Row (left to right): Ginsburg, Souter, Thomas, Breyer
Front Row (left to right): Scalia, Stevens, Rehnquist, O'Connor, Kennedy

ol•i•gar•chy
Pronunciation: 'ä-l&-"gär-kE, 'O-
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural -chies
Date: 1542
1 : government by the few
2 : a government in which a small group exercises control especially for corrupt and selfish purposes; also : a group exercising such control
3 : an organization under oligarchic control

sov•er•eign•ty
Variant(s): also sov•ran•ty /-tE/
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural -ties
Etymology: Middle English soverainte, from Middle French soveraineté, from Old French, from soverain
Date: 14th century
1 obsolete : supreme excellence or an example of it
2 a : supreme power especially over a body politic b : freedom from external control : AUTONOMY c : controlling influence
3 : one that is SOVEREIGN; especially : an autonomous state

[WackyKat]

Interestingly, I've heard from FReepers who say that they would be okay with this and while I don't agree with them, I have to respect them for their consistency. Then there are those who, despite the total lack of any such endorsement in the United States Constitution, insist that only Christianity may be promoted by a Chief Justice.

I agree with you about the first group, but they are a much, much smaller group than the second crowd

[fly_so_free]

A picture is worth a thousand words-your picture of the Ten Commandments banned and the Crucifix in Urine with a $60,000 grant from NEA sums it all up nicely.

[NutCrackerBoy]

So if, one day, the Chief Justice of your state is a Muslim, and in the middle of the night erects a large monument consisting of a stone slab topped by a large copy of the Koran, and refuses to allow any other religious displays in the public area of the building, this would be alright with you?

Our culture is immersed in the Judeo-Christian tradition. The Ten Commandments are almost universally understood and revered. One poignant reason for its display in courthouses is a reminder that man and man's laws are down here on Earth, but men and the laws of men are both subject to God's judgment. Within our culture, this promotes a particular secular understanding of government's relationship to God, and is the fundamental precept of the Declaration of Independence.

I would have no problem with your Koranic Judge from a First Amendment point-of-view, since it is not an Establishment of religion. The federales should have no standing on it, if there were justice in the world.

However, I think the people in my state would object to it, and rightly so. For there would be no meaning to that monument except as a big F. U.

[NutCrackerBoy]

Be more specific, it promotes a view of justice and morality with a strong Judeo-Christian sense.

Agreed.

[RJCogburn]

Moore is a nutcase, a wacko, a loony.

He claimed, and I'm paraphrasing, he'd make an announcement that might change the course of the country. After the big buildup and an appropriate passage of time, his course changing announcement was that he was proposing some legislation.

That is supposed to be a course changing announcement?

There are psychological terms for people with such delusions of grandeur, but I'll stick with those at the top of my comments.

[Catspaw]

It's also my opinion.

Moore knew what the existing case law was when he chose to put up Roy's rock. Instead of allowing the state to hire attorneys experienced in this area--and with a winning track record--he decided to hire his own attorneys, and those attorneys made mistakes. He lost at the district court level, the appellate court level, and the Supreme Court level. He lost before the board that removed him. He's going to lose when this case is reviewed by the Alabama Supreme Court.

Moore is nothing more than an overly ambitious, self-aggrandizing politician, who's cost and will cost the state of Alabama quite a bit of money while furthering his career.

[Elsie]

Supreme Court Chief Justices of States can not disobey Federal Court decisions.

 

I thought that  Federal Judges rule on Federal law: not STATE ones.

[Elsie]

...which is gambling, and a sin.(kidding)

Actually, some people BELIEVE this, but they CANNOT show a chapter and verse that SAYS so!

[Poohbah]

A federal judge found the monument to be an unconstitutional promotion of religion by government following a trial in 2002.

And what about the supreme court building?

The Supreme Court "Ten Commandments Monument" also shows Mohammed receiving the Koran and Hammurabi giving his famous code. The focus is on lawgivers throughout history. Judge Moore put up a monument to the Ten Commandments alone. Yes, it is apples and oranges.

[Elsie]

The Ten Commandments are not a "general promotion" of religion and you know it--

they were intended to and did promote Christianity....

Sorry, but the 10 have NO PLACE in Christianity, and SURELY do NOT promote it!

[Elsie]

You do know he used the Protestant version of the Ten Commandments on the monument, don't you?

This would, sure as hell, surprise the Apostle Paul!!!!!

[Poohbah]

Sorry, but the 10 have NO PLACE in Christianity, and SURELY do NOT promote it!

Excuse me, Elsie: Are you actually a Chistian? Do you just play a Chistian on TV? Or did you just sleep in a Holiday Inn Express last night?

[4CJ]

Bump for Chief Justice Roy S. Moore, who obeyed the Alabama Constitution which he took an oath to uphold, and who obeyed the US Constitution. The 1st states that "Congress shall make no law...", and a monument is not a law, and I feel for those intellectually challenged - including those on the Supreme Court - that think a monument is the federal Congress.

Justice Moore did not take an oath to obey the Justices of the Supreme Court or even to obey a federal Circuit court. He took an oath to uphold the Constitution of his state which invokes "the favor and guidance of Almighty God".

[4CJ]

Here's hoping Judge Moore gets a fair shake this time around.

Sure. They could start by listing the Federal law drafted by Congress that established a religion by the display of the monument. And the Amendment to the Constitution that allowed Justice Moore to replace the federal legislature.

Bump for Justice Roy S. Moore.

[sinkspur]

Why is it that just two states away in Texas, placing the Ten Commandments in a public court building is legal yet the very same act is illegal in Alabama?

If the megolamaniacal Roy Moore had come to Texas to see how the 10 Commandments were displayed in our Supreme Court building, none of this would have ever happened.

The problem is Roy Moore's ego wouldn't let him.

[Hacksaw]

I guess the fact that he was talking about ONE concept and you are talking about ANOTHER slipped your notice too. General promotion of religion and establishment of a particular religious sect are two DIFFERENT things. ONly secularists want to conflate the two to in effect destroy religions place in the public square.

WackyKrap believes we are a hair thickness away from having Billy Graham as our president and the Pope as Supreme Court chief justice. Hence his paranoia about the "theocrats" and a "theocracy" (figments of his imagination).

[TradicalRC]

Some folks put their Americanism before their Roman Catholicism, some set their faith higher than their "patriotism".