Richard Cohen: Roy Moore has 'disgraced his office' and should be removed

  Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore has disgraced his office for far too long. He’s such a religious zealot, such an egomaniac, that he thinks he doesn’t have to follow federal court rulings he disagrees with. For the good of the state, he should be kicked out of office.

  In 2003, Moore was removed from office for violating a federal court order. What he's done this time—tell the state's 68 probate judges to violate a federal court order—is far worse.

  As the Southern Poverty Law Center's ethics complaints lay out clearly, Moore has violated his oath of office and the Alabama Canons of Judicial Ethics multiple times.

  He has urged state and local officials to violate a binding court order. He has repeatedly commented on pending cases. He has undermined the public’s confidence in the judiciary by denigrating the federal courts and complaining about what he has called “tyranny.”

  And, he has improperly lent the prestige of his office to a group called the Foundation for Moral Law, an organization that he founded and that his wife now operates.

  Moore swore to uphold the United States Constitution. But he has demonstrated in the past, and now once again, that he is willing to put aside the law when it conflicts with his personal religious beliefs. He cannot be trusted to be an impartial arbiter of the law.

  We look forward to his trial in the Court of the Judiciary and his eventual removal from office once again.

  Editor’s note: The Alabama Judicial Inquiry Commission responded May 6 to the SPLC’s ethics complaints against Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore by filing charges that could result in his removal from office.

  About the author: About the author: Richard Cohen is president of the Southern Poverty Law Center.

  This article was published by the Southern Poverty Law Center, an Alabama-based civil rights organization.