[Labyrinthos]

By your argument, slaverly would still be legal in Alabama, as long it is allowed under the State Constitution. Sorry pal, but there is a little thing in the U.S Constitution called the "supremacy clause."

[Iconoclast2]

Sure, there's a supremacy clause:

"This Constitution, and the laws of the United States which shall be made in pursuance thereof; and all treaties made, or which shall be made, under the authority of the United States, shall be the supreme law of the land; and the judges in every state shall be bound thereby, anything in the Constitution or laws of any State to the contrary notwithstanding."

But what in the Constitution gives the federal courts the authority to regulate statuary in Alabama courthouses? Nothing. If there were a Constitutional provision saying that no one could erect monuments of a religious nature, you'd have a leg to stand on. But there isn't.

Interestingly, the only reason slavery became illegal was because of the gross breaches of Constitutional obligations by the Northern states. There, abolitionists appealed to a higher law than the Constitution, nullifying its express provisions. Here, the Judge Moore correctly notes that his views, and his actions, are not in any conflict with any provision of the Constitution--only its meaning as declared by anti-religious extremists.