I like the South. Okay, I mostly like it. Unfortunately, it is a red state full of Conservatives. One Conservative elected official I particularly loathe is Roy Moore, the Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court.
He is best known for refusing to remove a Ten Commandments monument from the Capitol. Here is a sample quote of his idiocy:
“Separation of church and state was never meant to separate God and government.”
More recently, he told county clerks not to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples after the Supreme Court made it legal.
Finally, he is going to trial over this bit of bigotry. He is facing judicial ethics charges.
Moore tried to get the charges dismissed, but he was denied. The Alabama Judicial Inquiry Commission also tried to get Moore removed from the bench without trial, but the court denied that.
The ethics charges center on an administrative order he gave after the Supreme Court ruled same-sex marriage legal. In January, he sent out an order to all judges saying they should refuse to issue these marriage licenses. This is a breach of ethics because he went against a federal ruling.
Moore once said:
“We’re in a serious time in our country. We are at a time in our country when people who just a few years ago would have been ascribed a mental illness, a mental disorder. When I started in 2013, if that would have happened then, this person and the people around her… would have been said to have a mental disorder… Today that person is violating and has violated a court order and is now bringing complaints against the chief justice.”
There were protestors outside when this hearing was taking place. The ones in favor of Moore’s views were holding signs saying “Judge Moore Was Right.” The people opposed to it carried signs reading #NoMoore.
Ahead of Ethics Hearing, HRC Reveals #NoMoore Billboard in Montgomery https://t.co/Cd9xuSTt2P via @HRC pic.twitter.com/aSATIQBXb3
— Peanuts (@TryPeanuts) August 6, 2016
One of the prosecutors for the Alabama Court of the Judiciary (COJ), John Carroll, said:
“The Chief Justice has abused his power to pursue his personal agenda.”
This trial could start by September 28, but the prosecution already feels that they have enough evidence. They predict that the trial wouldn’t last longer than one day.
I hope we can get this bigot removed from office.
Here is a video showing some of the protestors talking about this issue:
Featured image via Twitter
