When will Moore's monument be moved? (Who will replace Judge Moore?)

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[Happy2BMe]

When will Moore's monument be moved?

08/25/03By SALLIE OWEN and BILL BARROW
Capital Bureau

MONTGOMERY -- J. Gorman Houston Jr. will begin his first workday as Alabama's acting chief justice today armed with an attorney general's opinion granting him all the duties and authority given the chief justice.

Chief Justice Roy Moore was suspended from office immediately after a judicial ethics panel filed charges against him Friday. Charges stem from Moore's refusal to obey a federal court order and remove his Ten Commandments monument from public areas of the Alabama Judicial Building. The suspension lasts until the case is resolved by the Court of the Judiciary.

Moore is expected to make a public statement on the matter today.

Houston said Sunday that in his new role as acting chief justice, he could individually order the building manager to move the monument, as the eight associate justices did together Thursday morning. He said he might issue a duplicate order but had not made a final decision.

Attorney General Bill Pryor issued the opinion Saturday, answering several questions Houston posed a day earlier to clarify his duties and responsibilities as acting chief justice.

The Alabama constitution states that judges shall be disqualified, or suspended, from "acting as a judge" while charges are pending with the Court of the Judiciary. State law specifies that, if the chief justice is "disabled" from carrying out his duties because of illness or other reason, the senior associate justice will assume those responsibilities.

Houston has served as an associate justice on Alabama's Supreme Court for nearly 18 years.

According to the opinion, Houston will also have hiring and firing authority over the administrative director of courts and all members of the chief justice's staff.

Houston said he would not make any personnel changes until after he meets with the associate justices, saying he wanted it to be a "democratic process."

Meanwhile, protesters covered the front portico of the judicial building and dotted downtown street corners for the fifth consecutive day. Temperatures reached 95 degrees in Montgomery, according to the National Weather Service, with a heat index in the triple digits.

The sermons, prayers and hymns of Moore's supporters carried on throughout the day, with a two-hour worship service in the morning, an afternoon prayer service and an evening rally.

Between 500 and 1,000 demonstrators crowded around the building listening to the evening speeches when someone noticed a young man perched on a third-story ledge of the judicial building. The rally went on as planned as Montgomery police and area rescue officials tried to talk the man, who did not appear to be threatening to jump, into coming down.

Protest organizers said the man, who had been around for a few days, largely had kept to himself throughout the weekend. Some said they only knew him by the name "Greg" and had no other information.

Organizer Troy Newman of Operation Rescue called for additional people to camp out over night at the judicial building because "something very critical could happen to the monument tomorrow morning."

No information on plans to move the monument was available from state officials. Moore supporters are expected to file a counter suit in a Mobile federal court today seeking to prevent anyone from moving the 5,300-pound chunk of granite.

The Rev. Patrick Mahoney, head of the Christian Defense Coalition, said the suit will name Alabama's eight remaining Supreme Court justices as defendants.

Mahoney informally addressed Moore supporters during the late afternoon, explaining to them the group's plan to block symbolically any effort to remove the monument. He told protesters "to kneel side-by-side in Christian love" to block authorities or heavy equipment from entering the building to remove the stone.

"But do not lock arms" or resist arrest, he said, before repeating, "Do not, do not lock arms." Mahoney told the group that protest leaders have discussed their civil disobedience procedures with law enforcement personnel. "When a policeman tells you to get up, get up."

Moore's supporters have attracted counter-protesters of their own. Bob Kunst arrived in Montgomery late last week after a 12-hour trip Miami Beach, Fla. A practicing Jew, Kunst said he opposes government displays of religion and wants to highlight that there are people of faith who disagree with Moore's manner of acknowledging the Almighty.

"God doesn't need symbolism. God is God," Kunst said, standing on the corner of Dexter Avenue and McDonough Street.

Kunst held a sign reading, "Sodomites For The Separation of Church and State," a dig at some Moore supporters who have hurled insults at him in recent days. Most of the protesters, however, have been friendly, Kunst said.

Across from Kunst, a small band of Moore supporters displayed a sign of their own: "The wicked shall be turned into Hell."

Also on Sunday, Larry Darby, director of American Atheists' Alabama chapter, announced plans to hold a rally Monday for supporters of separation of church and state. Darby said the event would take place across the street from the judicial building at 11 a.m.

[Byron_the_Aussie]

..protesting makes the protester feel good, but accomplishes little else...

Traitor in the ranks bump.

[Byron_the_Aussie]

...Moore is soul brother with the Taliban....

[ellery]

Yes, that's a good point -- it's become a political fight on both sides.

[Ahban]

I'll just respond to the substanitive part of your previous post, the part that is not junior-high level personnal insult rather than rational argument, in the space below......

[Ahban]

Protesting does no good? Tell it to the people in Tianimin Square, or even in Montgomery Alabama in 1964.

[Dave S]

Reading some of the posts makes one question how much of a christian many of them may be. A good christian understands tolerance.

A real Christian wouldnt be running around like he was a Taliban minus the turban. They seem to have a persecution complex. I agree with their views on church and state on some issues (a kid should be free to write about religion if he is allowed to write on any other topic. Also there should be no reason that a Christian couldnt bring a Bible to school, especially if he was reading it and not forcing his beliefs on others). But this is a poor case. It is so extreme, it doesnt make sense on the face of it. They only reason Moore could for placing it outside his courts is to intimidate others.

Some of these folks are Christians in their mind only. They are very intolerant and unloving towards anyone who believes differently than they do. I bet some of them will have a big surprise when they are refused admittance to Heaven.

[Ahban]

nothing. I see your point. There is MORE justification for the judge to put the 10 Commandments up than there would be to put something from another faith up, still, I maintain they all have the right to do it, should the people elect them.

[Dave S]

What does a Hindu idol have to do with the American legal system?

Some say the Jews stole their "commandments" from Hamurabi and other sources.

[Dave S]

Yes, I agree Brother Moore is definitely in need of some Prozac or maybe something a little more heavy duty say Litium?

[Byron_the_Aussie]

..protesting does no good? Tell it to the people in Tianimin Square, or even in Montgomery Alabama in 1964...

...'protesing does no good' was meant as a direct insult to the Freepers on the front line in Montgomery, amigo. It's just as offensive to our compatriots who have Freeped Hillary, the Dixie Chicks, and the like. Sinky has to continually uprate the insults to Freepers, to get the buzz that comes from offending us.

[Byron_the_Aussie]

..Brother Moore is definitely in need of some Prozac...

"Chief Justice Moore served our country as a Captain in the Military Police Corps of the United States Army. He also served as Battalion Staff Officer at Ft. Riley, Kansas, and as a Company Commander in Vietnam. During his professional career, Justice Moore became the first full-time Deputy District Attorney in Etowah County and served in this position from 1977 until 1982. He returned to private law practice in Gadsden until he was elected Circuit Judge, Place Number One of the Sixteenth Judicial Circuit in Gadsden, in 1992. He served in this capacity from 1992 until his election as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Alabama in November 2000."

[puroresu]

The Ten Commandments are part of the heritage of Western Civilization. If the West had been Hindu, or Buddhist, or whatever, it would have been a completely different civilization. Because the West became Judeo-Christian, it became what it is, or what it was until the anti-Judeo-Christian left began wrecking it a few decades ago. What the leftists are seeking to do with these lawsuits is to eradicate our societal heritage, not just for our nation, but for all of Western Civilization.

Really, there is no such thing as separation of church and state. Someone's views always must prevail. You can separate a particular church from state, but never church as a generality. All laws are based on someone's morals and beliefs. What the left is trying to do is delegitimize all rightist legislation by declaring it to be "religious", while insisting their own leftist views can be legislated because they "aren't religious in nature".

The Alabama Ten Commandments fight is just one more battle in the far left's war to eradicate the West and replace it with a culturally Marxist centralized government power regime. As always, they've tricked a few libertarian types into being their cheerleaders, as was the case with the Texas sodomy ruling (another leftist government power grab disguised as "libertarian").

[Byron_the_Aussie]

..really, there is no such thing as separation of church and state...

Exactly. The Ten Commandments and Christian ideals run through your Constitution like the chassis in a car. That's what the liberals hate and fear, of course.

[Chancellor Palpatine]

They (the lawyers) have turned against him with as great a vengence as the Sanhedrin (Jewish court) that tried and convicted Christ.

Same crowd showed up then.

This is truly a spiritual battle to the utmost.

Now he's Jesus.

[Catspaw]

Former Senator Bob Kerrey won a Congressional Medal of Honor. That doesn't make him right.

[Catspaw]

You forgot to add Patrick Henry and Martin Luther King Jr.

[Dave S]

Chief Justice Moore served our country as a Captain in the Military Police Corps of the United States Army. He also served as Battalion Staff Officer at Ft. Riley, Kansas, and as a Company Commander in Vietnam. During his professional career, Justice Moore became the first full-time Deputy District Attorney in Etowah County and served in this position from 1977 until 1982. He returned to private law practice in Gadsden until he was elected Circuit Judge, Place Number One of the Sixteenth Judicial Circuit in Gadsden, in 1992. He served in this capacity from 1992 until his election as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Alabama in November 2000.

So what qualified him to become an imam?

[sinkspur]

...'protesing does no good' was meant as a direct insult to the Freepers on the front line in Montgomery, amigo. It's just as offensive to our compatriots who have Freeped Hillary, the Dixie Chicks, and the like. Sinky has to continually uprate the insults to Freepers, to get the buzz that comes from offending us.

You're sure trying to manufacture some kind of war, aren't you? Who the hell appointed you as the leader of the FReepers in Montgomery? Are YOU there? It's easy to sit on the sidelines and put somebody else's butt on the line.

Tell me if the FReepers in Montgomery actually stop the movement of the rock.

They didn't stop the Dixie Chicks.

[Catspaw]

Sen. John Kerry came home with a chest of medals. Does that make him right: A graduate of Yale University, John Kerry entered the Navy after graduation, becoming a Swift Boat officer, serving on a gunboat in the Mekong Delta in Vietnam. He received a Silver Star, Bronze Star with Combat V, and three awards of the Purple Heart for his service in combat

http://kerry.senate.gov/low/about_biography.html