Ala. Judge Loses Ten Commandments Appeal

Washington Post ^ | July 1, 2003 | Associated Press

[Lurking Libertarian]

ATLANTA - A federal appeals court ruled Tuesday that a Ten Commandments monument the size of a washing machine must be removed from the Alabama Supreme Court building.

The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously affirmed a ruling by a federal judge who said that the 2 1/2-ton granite monument, placed there by Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore, violates the constitutional separation of church and state.

[snip]

Moore put the monument in the rotunda of the courthouse in the middle of the night two summers ago. The monument features tablets bearing the Ten Commandments and historical quotations about the place of God in law.

[click link to read remainder of article]

[Dog Gone]

Get off the Muslim thing and think about this again. How would you feel about some other religion putting a massive symbol of their religion in the lobby of your courthouse?

I can't that you'd approve, especially considering the language of the First Amendment.

[auboy]

Oh no, I don't despise it. You typically assume what you don't know. I grew up in Alabama. My family still lives there. If you knew anything about it, you would know that the state is in the midst of a fiscal free-fall. The economy will not be assisted by the election of a governor who (a) knows nothing of government except for the imposition of his own views and (b) will drive away the investment that is critical for the survival of the state's economy.

I have lived in Alabama for 58 years. And my family still lives here, too. We have just been through four years of corruption under our former governor, Don "No Bid" Siegelman - aka Clinton-Lite. Do you think we would be better off with him in office for another four years? Do you know Bob Riley? Do you know that he was a successful business man before running for political office? Do you know that when he first ran for the U.S. Congress, he promised to limit his terms in Washington? Do you know that he kept his promise? Do you know that he inherited this fiscal free-fall "mess" from a liberal lawyer who has yet to have a close encounter with the truth?

Go ahead. With your vast knowledge of the state and of Roy Moore's governmental acumen, tell us all how his election would be good for the state.

You typically assume what you don't know. Where did I say one word about Roy Moore?

[Dog Gone]

I can't imagine that you'd approve.

Bedtime.

[judgeandjury]

If he does that, the court will hold him in contempt and order the Federal Marshal's Service to arrest him.

If Federal Marshals come to Alabama to try to arrest Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore, Moore should order the Alabama State Police to arrest the Federal Marshals.

[Revel]

Memebers from the states created the constitution. So how do you figure that the federal government came first?

[Texas_Jarhead]

Guess you don't know many Southerners. But you just keep holdin' on to your bigoted stereotypes.

Years ago, my grandfather told me a story of how his unit helped liberate some prison camp in WWII. He wasn't an emotional man and he didn't talk much about the war but I clearly remember wondering if he was about to cry as he told us briefly of that experience. Crying was something that I had never seen him come close to doing. He was a simple man. Raised on a small farm in the deep south where acquiring a pair of shoes was a very big deal. Some would call him a good ole boy, but not the kind of ol'boys you're talking about. Nonetheless he was a southerner and I guess he falls under your bigoted umbrella. So as an ode to him, I proclaim you a first class jackass!

[judgeandjury]

Would everyone here feel the same way if Judge Moore had placed a huge monument to the Koran on the courthouse lawn?

If Judge Moore were to have done that, the morning after it was put in place, it would probably have been found to have been smashed into numerous pieces.

[Spiff]

Members from the states created the constitution. So how do you figure that the federal government came first?

You have me confused with lugsoul. I was telling him that the States came first - they formed the Federal government - not the other way around.

[m18436572]

Nice link...

KNOW YOUR ENEMY!

[judgeandjury]

A juror walks into the building, sees the religious monument, and then sees a defendant of a different faith, and a connection is made subconsciously, that the fellow is guilty, because he worships one of these heathen religions.

Wow, you have quite an imagination! Sees a defendant of a different faith? How does that work? Do most people wear labels indicating what religion that practice?

[NH Liberty]

"Go Chief Justice Moore! Where can we donate to his legal fund? He'll need it."

Here you go, Spiff...:

http://www.coralridge.org/MooreDefense.asp?ID=ttt

[lugsoul]

"You typically assume what you don't know. Where did I say one word about Roy Moore?"

Did I say one word about Siegelman? Or did I say anything about Riley? Looks like I'm not the only one assuming. If you've lived there for 58 years, you know that neither rampant corruption in state government nor the fiscal problems started with Siegelman, either. As far as recent history goes, Folsom was no prize in those areas.

What you did say was that my comment that Moore's election would be bad for the state meant that I "despise" the state. The implication is clearly that you don't agree. Perhaps you do.

I think Riley's got some decent ideas. As much as it pains me to say it, I think his approach on the tax plan is necessary. While I'm not generally a proponent of tax increases, the regressive nature of taxation in Alabama is one of the root causes of the current crisis. But getting outside money into the state will be necessary, and that won't happen in a state led by the likes of Moore.

[Sloth]

Get off the Muslim thing and think about this again. How would you feel about some other religion putting a massive symbol of their religion in the lobby of your courthouse?

I can't [imagine] that you'd approve, especially considering the language of the First Amendment.

I wouldn't approve, and I don't approve of Moore's monument, either, though I think it's a stretch to say that either one would constitute an establishment of state religion. But on the other hand, I would not really be bothered by such a display -- it is certainly so unimportant that bringing suit on account of it is a waste of the courts' time & money. I don't approve of military or congressional chaplains -- which seem to me to go a lot further toward violating the 1st -- but it's hardly worth wasting breath or brain cells over it, either. There are so many more important unconstitutional undertakings.

And if a Muslim or Buddhist judge were ordered by an appeals court to remove some comparable symbol of their religion, I'd still be rooting for the judge to refuse to comply, because I am sick of the federal judiciary thinking that *they* are God.

[Revel]

I believe it was always intended by a most of our founders that the "Ultimate Law" was that of our christian God. Not that we have to have a church of england or a baptist, or Catholic(ect...) National religion, but that our country is still to based on Christian laws. If a person has not conscience of right and wrong before God and if they believe in no accountability before God then no amount of laws will make the world a safe and loving place. Because why would anyone care about anyone but themselve's? The only punishment in mans law is getting caught. If you belive in God's law then you will always get caught and someday answer to it. By taking God out of everything then you end up with people with no heart and no conscience. You end up with the mess in society that we have today. As we move closer and closer to this Godless society then only one thing is ceartin. We will be doomed by our own actions even if there were no judgement from God. Our country depended on that fabric...it will not survive without it. The courts in the past upheld these principles with that in mind. Not any more. No conjured up legal argument can change that basic fact. But if people don't have that in there hearts any longer then they will be doomed to do exactly what they are doing. Defending there conjured up arguments based not on what our country must have to survive, but on what they percive to be there very clever interpretations.

[Centurion2000]

This is the stuff of Lexington and Concord.

No it's not. This is about a publicity seeking politician trying to abuse the Ten Commandments and the Constitution to get himself elected.

It must suck being that cynical. Is it possible that perhaps one man has decided to defend his "line in the sand"?

[lugsoul]

You are funny. I resorted to name calling? After you accused men you know nothing about of wanting to cook Jews in ovens? And then implied the same of me? You are a joke.

[lugsoul]

Spiff - tell us all about your theory. If the Utah Legislature decides to establish Mormonism as the state religion, and the SCOTUS says it is unconstitutional, why don't you explain to us all how the Utah Supreme Court can overrule the SCOTUS. That is exactly what you are saying.

[FreeLibertarian]

It must suck being that cynical. Is it possible that perhaps one man has decided to defend his "line in the sand"?

No it's not cynicism just experience. Beleive what you want but I choose not to be used. That's my line in the sand.

[auboy]

What you did say was that my comment that Moore's election would be bad for the state meant that I "despise" the state. The implication is clearly that you don't agree. Perhaps you do.

I apoligize. I misread your post #52. I should have read post #48 to which you were responding.

I do not wish to have anyone from the legal system as my governor, now or in the future. That includes Roy Moore.

[c-b 1]

He's a moron. A dolt. An idiot.

No that would be you.

This is not about the Ten Commandments, this is about our "Rights" guaranteed by the Constitution. Yes Justice Moore believes in the Ten Commandments, however he is using this in an attempt to stop the erosion of our rights.