Stealth Move Against the Chief Justice (10 Commandments)

- Concerned citizens urged to call and protest stealth move against the Chief Justice

In a series of stealth moves against Chief Justice Roy Moore of the Alabama State Supreme Court, Attorney General Bill Pryor and Justice Gorman Houston have joined forces to suspend the Chief Justice, take away his staff, and block him access to his personal effects and documents, thus attempting to thwart him from mounting a spirited defense against them. When staffers arrived at the Chief Justice's office this morning, they discovered that the locks had been changed. Entry into the Chief Justice's chambers was impossible. This move came on the heals of a hearing with the Chief Justice last Friday morning in which, amidst smiles and handshakes, the justices listened to the Chief Justice but asked no questions of him, nor made any comments. At the end of the day, after the Chief Justice had left the building, they filed suspension papers against him and served his office after the close of the business day. Attorney General Bill Pryor issued an opinion on Saturday giving authority to the other justices for their actions and urging the immediate removal of the Chief Justice from all duties and the appointment of Senior Associate Justice Gorman Houston as acting Chief Justice.

Under the laws of Alabama and the rules of the Court, there are two elements to the judicial authority of an Alabama Supreme Court Justice. The first is his judicial authority and the second is his administrative authority. According to the rules, a suspension pending a hearing should only result in the restriction of his judicial oversight, pending his trial. The Chief Justice has not been removed from office and retains his other duties and responsibilities. The move by Attorney General Bill Pryor and Senior Associate Justice Gorman Houston is not only unprecedented, but overreaching. They must be held to account for their attempt to block the Chief Justice access to his chambers, and transfer of his entire staff away by placing them under the control of Justice Houston. At 3:00 p.m. (CDT) today, Chief Justice Moore is expected to hold a national press conference, explaining his position on these events and strategy for the future.

ACTION ITEM: We are urging Americans to call the offices of the justices of the Alabama Supreme Court, the Governor, and the Attorney General. The Governor is one of three administrators of the building and can order the office opened. Please also call attorney General Bill Pryor's office and express your profound concern with his conduct in the Chief Justice Moore case. Explain that he will be opposed for his nomination for the 11th Circuit Court unless he gives Americans a reason to support him, including, but not limited to, dropping all charges against the Chief Justice and returning to him his staff and office. As the Attorney General he has prosecutorial discretion not to serve as prosecutor of the Chief Justice in the suspension case to be heard next month. Families that are able to gather at the Supreme Court building today and tomorrow are urged to do so. See the numbers at the end of the email.

Contrary to popular opinion, the actions of Chief Justice Roy Moore were not civil disobedience, but strict observance to the rule of law. It is the federal Judges and those who have used their offices to support the removal of the monument and the suspension of the Chief Justice who have violated the rule of law. Among the many heroes to have come to the aid of the Attorney General, Ambassador Alan Keyes has distinguished himself both for the courage and brilliance of his defense. In this Vision Forum exclusive, Ambassador Keyes makes the constitutional case for Chief Justice Moore actions. Please make sure to read his comments on when a government official may lawfully disobey an order. Below is an excerpt:

...Some may insist that regardless of anyone's opinion of the lawfulness of a court's action, all are duty bound, in the interest of order and law enforcement, to obey every court order. This is certainly true of ordinary citizens in most circumstances. Even where ordinary citizens are concerned, however, it is not hard to imagine situations in which they would be morally obliged to refuse a plainly unlawful court order. If, for instance, a judge issues an order requiring that at random an innocent person be shot when entering the courtroom, no person, including any officers of the court, is required to obey this order. In fact, like military personnel, they are duty bound to refuse. What is imaginable for ordinary citizens is even more conceivable when dealing with high government officials who are sworn to uphold the constitutions and laws that establish self government in the states, and protect the liberties of individuals and of the people. If a Federal judge orders the Governor of a state to take actions that he conscientiously believes violate the rights of an individual or group of individuals, no one would deny that he is duty bound to refuse such an order. If, for example, a Nazi regime somehow came to power at the Federal level, and by legislation or executive order initiated an effort to confine Jewish or black Americans to concentration camps, all state officials acting under state constitutions that protected individual rights would be oath bound to refuse unlawful Federal court orders that declared people to be of Jewish or black heritage and thereupon ordered their confinement....

Twenty-eighth Chief Justice

Roy S. Moore is a native of Etowah County, Alabama. He graduated from Etowah High School in 1965 and obtained a Bachelor of Science Degree in 1969 from the United States Military Academy at West Point. Moore then returned to Alabama where he completed his Juris Doctorate Degree in 1977 from The University of Alabama School of Law.

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.

Chief Justice Moore has received a number of national honors during his career. In 1995, he was presented with the George Washington Honor Medal from the National Freedom Foundation in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, and honored with Alabama State Senate Joint Resolution 40 (McDowell Lee, Secretary of State, both Houses concurring). In 1996 he was awarded the Christian Citizenship Award from Sanford University, Birmingham, Alabama; in 1997 he received the Bill of Rights award, the Christian Statesman of the Year Award (D. James Kennedy Center for Christian Statesmanship, Washington, D.C.), the God and Country Award (American Family Association), and the Spirit of America Founders Award. Justice Moore continued to be honored in 1998 by the United States Taxpayers Party, who presented him with the Andrew Jackson Champion of Liberty Award. Kentucky Governor Paul Patton awarded Justice Moore the highest honor awarded by the State of Kentucky (Kentucky Colonel, Honorable Order of Kentucky Colonels), the Liberty & Union Award (New Hampshire Center for Constitutional Studies), and the Delaware House of Representatives honored him with Resolution No. 47. That same year, the State of California Republican Assembly endorsed Justice Moore by formal resolution at their annual convention calling him a "tireless defender of individual freedom and liberties."

In 1999, Justice Moore received the Family, Faith, and Freedom Citation presented by the Family Research Council in Washington, D.C., and the American Heritage of Faith Award (Freedom Flyer Ministries, Chicago, Illinois). He also received the 1999 National Spirit of Life Award from the African American Family Association, and Michigan Governor John Engler and the State of Michigan presented him with a special tribute, calling Justice Moore, "a great American and an honorable judge." In 2002, the National Hero of Faith Award was presented by Vision America (Houston, Texas), and in 2003, he received a Doctor of Divinity Ecclesiastical Degree which was conferred upon him by the Methodist Episcopal Church USA (Washington, D.C.).

Chief Justice Moore has appeared on the Today Show, 20/20, NBC Nightly News, ABC World News, CNN, CBN's "700 Club," Dr. D. James Kennedy's "Coral Ridge Hour," James Dobson's "Focus on the Family," C-Span, and other numerous national and regional radio and television programs. Articles concerning Justice Moore have appeared in USA Today, the Los Angeles Times, the Washington Times, the Washington Post, the Houston Chronicle, the Atlanta Constitution, New American, Chalcedon Report, Citizen Magazine, and others.

Chief Justice Moore has authored numerous articles and poetry. Among his selected writings are "Religion In The Public Square," published by Cumberland Law Review, Cumberland School of Law, Volume 29, No.2, 1998-1999, and "Putting God Back in the Public Square," Imprimis, Hillsdale College, Volume 28, No. 8, August, 1999.

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