Alabama Public Radio's Alex AuBuchon spent close to a month covering the trial of Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore. The head of the state Supreme Court faced charges of encouraging probate judges to ignore the U.S, Supreme Court's ruling in favor of same sex marriage.
Trial ROSR 1 / AuBuchon
05212 September 28, 2016
Embattled Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore is on trial today. He’s facing judicial ethics charges that could result in his removal from the state Supreme Court. APR’s Alex AuBuchon is attending the proceedings and files this report from Montgomery.
Chief Justice Roy Moore took the stand in his own defense this morning. His defense team walked the Justice line-by-line through the administrative order he issued in January that forms the basis of the complaint against him. Moore says despite the accusations, he never intended to encourage the state’s probate judges to defy federal law. In cross-examination, prosecutors stressed several spots in the order where he appeared to do just that. It’s unclear at this point whether the Alabama Court of the Judiciary will issue a ruling today. The Judicial Inquiry Commission is urging the Court to remove Moore from office. SOQ
Trial Wrap 2 / AuBuchon
05211 September 29, 2016
Both sides have rested their cases and are confident in their arguments. Now the fate of suspended Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore rests with the Alabama Court of the Judiciary. APR’s Alex AuBuchon attended yesterday’s trial and has more on the proceedings.
Roy Moore was fighting for his job yesterday. He’s facing ethics charges dating back to the same-sex marriage controversy that could result in his removal from office. But his support in the courtroom was obvious, with so many cheers that state troopers threatened to clear the gallery. One of the most vocal figures outside the courtroom was perennial thorn in Roy Moore’s side, Ambrosia Starling. She says if the Court of the Judiciary rules in favor of Moore, the next step is obvious.
“I know the due process of law and I’m a drag queen. You know, if you don’t seek satisfaction on the state level, you go federal. And I’m quite sure that from Washington D.C., they’re looking down and they’re watching to see whether or not we can stand up and act like adults and handle our business properly and respectfully, or whether it’s time for them to step in.”
Chief Judge Michael Joiner says the Alabama Court of the Judiciary will rule no later than October 8. SOQ ?
Roy Moore Trial Wrap-Up / AuBuchon
October 6, 2016
Roy Moore is no longer the Chief Justice of Alabama. Last week, a majority of the Alabama Court of the Judiciary decided to suspend Moore for the remainder of his six-year term as punishment for ethics violations. The charges relate to Moore’s role in the controversy over same-sex marriage in Alabama. APR’s Alex AuBuchon has been following the Chief Justice’s case. He has this report on reactions to the trial and what may be coming next.
[FX Up – Rally sound]
At Chief Justice Moore’s summary judgement hearing in August, supporters of traditional marriage outnumbered supporters of gay marriage by a wide margin. At the end of the trial, that scale flipped. “This is the first time that this many equality groups have come together.” That’s Ambrosia Starling, a drag queen and civil rights activist who has been a thorn in Roy Moore’s side from the beginning. “Normally, before, you see one or two. But today, there must have been somewhere between seven and nine equality organizations that all joined forces to ensure that the LGBT community was fairly represented on the day of the trial.”
Moore and Starling have sparred from the beginning. He singled her out in countless speeches, calling her insane and a professed transvestite, and saying she’s behind the charge to remove him from office. For the most part, Starling says she and others like her try to move past that rhetoric.
“I’m really proud to see how my community handled themselves in the face of hatred and discrimination.” Other members of the LGBT community on hand were some of the original litigants responsible for striking down Alabama’s ban on same-sex marriage. Cari Searcy remembers her and her wife Kim McKeand’s road to marriage equality. “When our son was born in late 2005, he was born with a large hole in his heart. He was going to have to have open-heart surgery. It was during this time that I was told because I didn’t have legal paperwork stating that I was a parent, I couldn’t administer care to our son. And for me, as a parent, that was unacceptable.”
It took years, but Searcy chose her course of action. “In late 2014, we filed our federal lawsuit challenging the Alabama Sanctity of Marriage laws, because we knew that was the only way to get legal recognition for our son.” Last January, federal judge Callie Granade ruled in Searcy’s favor. That ruling declared Alabama’s marriage laws were unconstitutional. “What happened after that, we all know, Judge Moore kind of made it his personal mission to stand in the doorway of marriage equality here in Alabama. And we saw something happen here where people started to take a stand and say ‘You know what? This is good. This is good for Alabama, and Alabama is a better place when all of its citizens are equally protected under the law.’” “When a leader says that hate is something we can endorse legally, that affects everyday lives of everyday Alabamians.” That’s Eva Kendrick, Alabama state manager for the Human Rights Campaign. “When people who would seek to harm LGBTQ people hear this, they can use that rhetoric as a justification. They can say that their words and their actions have been echoed in the highest court in Alabama.”
The court system disciplined Roy Moore for his actions and rhetoric, but Kendrick says the responsibility ultimately lies with Alabama’s voters. “The challenge for us is how we move forward to elect officials who will stand up for all Alabamians, because these actions are unconscionable, and we cannot let discriminatory political officials dictate the future of our state as they have dictated its past.” Richard Cohen agrees – he’s the President of the Southern Poverty Law Center, the organization that filed the initial judicial ethics complaints against Moore. “The people of Alabama deserve a Chief Justice who will uphold the law. Not a Chief Justice who will urge defiance of it.”
At this point, Moore has been suspended without pay for the remainder of his six-year term in office. At the end of that term, in January 2019, state law says Moore will be too old to serve as Chief Justice. But Roy Moore isn’t going quietly. His legal team has already filed an appeal with the Alabama Supreme Court.
“Based upon the law, I’m absolutely confident that the JIC was wrong in issuing these charges and the judge didn’t do anything. When you look at the case and you look at the issues, you scratch your head. ‘Why are we even here?’ We should not be here.” That’s Moore’s lead defense attorney Mat Staver of the Liberty Counsel in a press conference after last week’s trial. The JIC stands for Alabama’s Judicial Inquiry Commission which suspended Moore.
Full arguments haven’t been released, but Staver says he plans to challenge several aspects of the court’s decision, including whether they even have the power to review administrative orders like the one Moore was convicted and suspended for issuing. Moore’s appeal will be heard by the remainder of the Alabama Supreme Court. Staver wants the eight remaining justices to all recuse themselves and a new panel of judges to be appointed to hear the case. However the appeal plays out, one thing is for sure: We haven’t heard the last from Roy Moore yet. SOQ ?
Moore Update WRAP / AuBuchon
October 14, 2016
The Chief Justice of Alabama’s Supreme Court says he’s being kicked out of the courthouse. APR’s Alex AuBuchon reports this follows his suspension for violating judicial ethics.
The acting head of Alabama’s Supreme Court Lyn Stuart sent two letters to Chief Justice Roy Moore earlier this week. She told him to clear his office in the state courthouse and turn in his keys by next Tuesday. Moore’s law clerks were also fired, and his name was removed from the Supreme Court letterhead. Moore’s attorney Mat Staver of the Liberty Counsel is handling his appeal, which he says the Court is ignoring.
“We filed this, now, a week ago, and not a single action by the Alabama Supreme Court has been taken, other than to force the Chief Justice to remove all of his belongings and to fire three of his law clerks. It’s completely inappropriate.”
Roy Moore was suspended for the remainder of his term for judicial ethics violations related to his stand against same-sex marriage legalization in Alabama. SOQ