Screaming Penguin

The chief justice in the Alabama Supreme Court (an oxymoron if ever there was one) has caused some controversy with his actions and decisions on more than one occasion. I was particularly offended by his decision in one case where he awarded custody of a child to a father with a criminal record over a mother with a clean record, stable job, good history, etc because the mother was gay. The troubling part was that he did not even bother to veil his bias and ignorance in any way, he simply said, in his supreme court ruling, that being gay was wrong because the bible said so. Now even if that is his stern personal belief, he has no right, and in fact has an obligation to the contrary, to bring religious views as such into a courtroom. His most infamous actions that have gained notoriety are his ritual posting of the ten commandments in the courtroom. Justice Moore (aka Moron) did this as a lower court judge and he did it again once elected to the AL Supreme Court. This again is profoundly wrong. Its wrong on many levels but lets start with the constitution and the separation of church and state. IF the judge wants the commandments on the wall he needs to rally his supporters and get the constitution changed. If he can accomplish that, I will follow Dennis Miller and move to "AlecBaldwinia". If he cant do that, and in the interim while he works on that misguided goal, he needs to start obeying the LAW. He may be rather proud of himself, and in fact he openly disregards a court ruling against him in a suit brought by Americans United and other groups, but he is only making more and more of an ass of himself, making a debacle of our federal government and costing the state of Alabama a lot of money. Americans United has an update on this matter. Here is the press release: MOORE MUST REMOVE TEN COMMANDMENTS FROM ALABAMA JUDICIAL BUILDING, AMERICANS UNITED TELLS APPEALS COURT Alabama Chief Justice Has No Right To Display Religious Symbol In Courthouse, Say AU And Allied Groups Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore's display of the Ten Commandments in the state Judicial Building violates the U.S. Constitution, Americans United has told a federal appeals court. In an appellees' brief filed April 14, attorneys with Americans United, the American Civil Liberties Union of Alabama and the Southern Poverty Law Center asked the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to uphold a lower court ruling and require Moore to remove the religious monument. The lawyers argued that Moore clearly intended to endorse religion through his display of the Decalogue. Asserted the brief, "Chief Justice Moore erected the Ten Commandments monument to acknowledge the 'ultimate authority' of the Christian God, and to encourage viewers to obey the 'absolute standards' that the monument depicts. These are unabashedly religious purposes." Elsewhere, the brief asserted that Moore's view of the relationship between the states and the federal government is outmoded and extreme. "In a glaring act of hubris, Moore argues that if the federal courts do not adopt his extremist view of [separation of church and state], he is not obliged to comply with their orders," read the brief. "This argument runs afoul of longstanding principles of federalism and is an invitation to anarchy." The Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United, said the federal courts must reject Moore's arguments. "Moore is essentially arguing that states don't have to abide by the Constitution," Lynn said. "This is an extreme position that no federal court is going to take seriously." Continued Lynn, "It's time for Moore to join the 21st century and quit trying to use his courtroom to promote religion." Moore became a hero to the Religious Right when, as a state court judge in Gadsden, Ala., he posted the Ten Commandment in his courtroom. Moore used his fame to win election as Alabama chief justice in November of 2000. He erected the Ten Commandments monument in the Judicial Building on the evening of July 31, 2001 and officially unveiled it the next day. Acting on behalf of Alabama residents, Americans United, the ACLU and the Southern Poverty Law Center filed suit against Moore in 2002. On Nov. 18, 2002, U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson ruled in the Glassroth v. Moore case that Moore's actions had violated church-state separation. Note the "hero to the religious right" statement. Thats true and that should tell you something about the intelligence and self confidence of the religious right.