| WASHINGTON
- August 27 - Complying with a federal court order, Alabama officials this morning removed a two-ton Ten Commandments monument from public display in the Judicial Building in Montgomery.
The action puts an end to defiance by Roy Moore, chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court. Moore, who originally arranged for the monument’s display in August of 2001, had vowed to defy federal court orders mandating its removal.
“This is a tremendous victory for the rule of law and respect for religious diversity,” said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State. “Perhaps Roy Moore will soon leave the bench and move into the pulpit, which he seems better suited for.
“Roy Moore has shamelessly exploited the Ten Commandments as a platform for political grandstanding,” Lynn continued. “That is a disgraceful misuse of a religious code that many people regard as sacred.”
“This controversy has never been about the Ten Commandments,” observed Americans United Legal Director Ayesha Khan. “It’s about maintaining a court system that treats all Americans fairly, regardless of their religious beliefs. Judges have no right to impose their personal religious beliefs on others through official action.
Americans United, the American Civil Liberties Union of Alabama and the Southern Poverty Law Center sponsored litigation against Moore on behalf of state residents seeking the monument’s removal.
In November of 2002, a federal court declared Moore’s display unconstitutional. That decision was affirmed by the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals July 1. Moore was ordered to remove the monument, but he refused, vowing to defy the federal courts.
The eight other justices of the state high court suspended Moore, and state officials promised to follow the court ruling. In the meantime, fundamentalist Christian protestors converged on the Judicial Building, pledging to block efforts to remove the sculpture. State law enforcement officials had to remove them from the building.
AU’s Lynn accused Moore of orchestrating a media circus.
“Moore claims to venerate the Ten Commandments, but that didn’t stop him from using them as a prop in a series of increasingly cheap stunts,” said AU’s Lynn. “Moore turned this situation into a circus, and it was unnecessary. He should have obeyed the court ruling from the start.”
Concluded Lynn, “As this affair draws to a close, I reiterate my call for Moore to spare the people of Alabama any further embarrassment and resign as chief justice.”
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