washingtonpost.com: Alabama Chief Justice Removed From Office

”To acknowledge God cannot be a violation of the Canons of Ethics. Without God there can be no ethics,” [former Alabama Chief Justice Roy] Moore testified.

That quote is precisely why Moore cannot dispense justice. An atheist brought before him on any charges would have to be guilty. Moore is wrong.

It is interesting to note Alabama Attorney General William Pryor’s role as prosecutor of Moore. Prior is up for a federal judicial position and is one of the very few Bush nominees Democrats have blocked for his deep religious convictions and strong anti-abortion expressions. His role here supports his contention that he will always support the law, and not just “god’s law” like Moore. mjh

The prosecutor, Attorney General Bill Pryor, on Wednesday termed Moore’s defiance “utterly unrepentant behavior” that warranted removal from office. …

It was as a circuit court judge in Gadsden in the 1990s that Moore became known as the “Ten Commandments Judge” after he was sued by the American Civil Liberties Union for opening court sessions with prayer and for displaying a hand carved Ten Commandments display behind his bench.

He said Wednesday that when he ran for chief justice in 2000, his entire campaign was based on “restoring the moral foundation of law.” He added that it took him eight months to personally design the monument, which he helped move into the judicial building in the middle of the night on July 31, 2001.