Lately, America has been cursed by stories involving Ala. Chief Justice Roy Moore and his public defiance of same-sex marriage. Moore has been ferocious in his tantrums, going so far as to tell probate judges not to issue marriage licenses. Unfortunately, “Ragin'” Roy Moore is back in the news. The reason is more or less the same, save for the details, as this time around he is advocating for the impeachment of?SCOTUS Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Elena Kagan.
What possible reason could Roy Moore have for?demanding the impeachment of two Supreme Court Justices? In an interview with Family Research Council President Tony Perkins, Moore lays out his reasoning. From Right Wing Watch:
Most of the impeachment banter between Moore and the guy who recently accepted Josh Duggar’s resignation pertains to the Constitution and what the two view as blatant Constitutional violations purveyed by Ginsburg and Kagan. Most notably, Moore regurgitated the “marriage is not in the Constitution” talking point and broke into a tirade about the separation of powers. Moore specifically discusses the Tenth Amendment?–
“The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.”
— and how the Tenth Amendment expresses that the federal government, particularly the Supreme Court, does not have the power to enforce marriage equality for same-sex couples. However, Moore conveniently forgets one tiny detail in his Beck-esque line-drawing:
“All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”
For shame, Moore. You’re a judge.
The Supreme Court is the final authority on Constitutional interpretation. No amount of modernized George Wallace rhetoric will change that. Since Moore seems to be at a loss as to how the Supreme Court works, here’s an explanation from every kid’s favorite book publisher, Scholastic.
“The Supreme Court is the final judge in all cases involving laws of Congress, and the highest law of all???the Constitution.”
Essentially, Roy Moore and Tony Perkins are in agreement that the justification for Ginsburg and Kagan’s impeachment comes down to the two?interpreting the Constitution in the midst of a Constitutional argument, as is their job.
In commentary more specifically directed at the Notorious R.B.G., however, Judge Moore comments on an article in the New York Times that seems to imply a speculative controversial action she committed while presiding over a same-sex wedding on May 17. The following quote is from the interview with Perkins, where Moore directly quotes the New York Times article.
“… with a sly look and special emphasis on the word ‘Constitution,’ Justice Ginsburg said that she was pronouncing the two men married by the powers vested in her by the Constitution of the United States.”
Moore argues that she is commenting on a case that’s currently being deliberated in the Supreme Court and questions her judicial ethics. I’m fairly certain Judge Roy Moore is not a notable authority when it comes to judicial ethics.
Moore first became Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court in 2000, but quickly found himself embroiled in controversy. He commissioned a Ten Commandments monument be installed in front of the Alabama Judicial Building in Montgomery and was promptly sued by civil liberties groups,?notably the Southern Poverty Law Center and the American Civil Liberties Union, on grounds that the monument violated the separation of church and state. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit sided with the civil liberties groups, prompting Moore to give the metaphorical middle finger. This led to a 2003 removal from the bench by an ethics panel. From the Washington Post:
?’This court has found that Chief Justice Moore not only willfully and publicly defied the orders of a United States district court, but upon direct questioning by the court he also gave the court no assurances that he would follow that order or any similar order in the future,’ the ethics panel wrote. ‘In fact, he affirmed his earlier statements in which he said he would do the same.’?
Unfortunately, Moore returned to his position as chief justice in 2012, only to give the metaphorical middle finger to yet another higher court.
Roy Moore calling for the impeachment of Supreme Court justices is comedic enough, but doing so while arguing ethics violations pushes it into the realm of screwball comedy. This guy is a joke and a coward, for only a coward would hide their bigotry behind the law of the land. It never ceases to amaze me how the Constitution is consistently used to justify ignorant viewpoints with obtuse logic. It’s sickening that people like Roy Moore wield influence in this country.
I hope he reads this. I hope he calls me or shows up at my front door. I would love to be able to make sure Roy Moore hears my voice when I tell him how much of a cretin he is.
