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(11/14/03 3:47pm)
MONTGOMERY, Ala. -- Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore was removed from office Thursday for refusing to obey a federal court order to move his Ten Commandments monument from the rotunda of the state courthouse.\nThe state Court of the Judiciary unanimously imposed the harshest penalty possible after a one-day trial in which Moore said his refusal was a moral and lawful acknowledgment of God. Prosecutors said Moore's defiance, left unchecked, would harm the judicial system.\nMoore, a champion of religious conservatives, had been suspended since August but was allowed to collect his $170,000 annual salary. He was halfway through his six-year term.\nSpeaking immediately after the decision, a defiant Moore told supporters he had only acknowledged God as is done in other official procedures and documents.\n"I have absolutely no regrets. I have done what I was sworn to do," he said, drawing applause.\nHe said he would consult with religious and political leaders before deciding what to do next. He could appeal to the Alabama Supreme Court.\nUnder Thursday's decision, the governor will appoint someone to serve the rest of Moore's term, which expires in 2006.\nPresiding Judge William Thompson said the nine-member court had no choice in its decision after Moore willfully and publicly ignored the federal court order. "The chief justice placed himself above the law," Thompson said.\nA federal judge had ruled the monument was an unconstitutional promotion of religion by the government. A federal appeals court upheld the ruling, and the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear Moore's appeal. The monument eventually was rolled to a storage room on instructions from the eight associate justices.\nThe ad hoc Court of the Judiciary heard the case after a complaint was filed by the Judicial Inquiry Commission.\nGreg Sealy, head of the Sitting at His Feet Fellowship in Montgomery, an inner-city mission, said it was the "darkest day" he has seen in America since he moved to the United States from Barbados 23 years ago.\n"They stole my vote. The judiciary stole my vote. I voted for Roy Moore," he said.\nThe prosecutor, Attorney General Bill Pryor, Wednesday termed Moore's defiance "utterly unrepentant behavior" that warranted removal from office.\nThe chief justice testified he was fulfilling his duties and promises to voters when he refused to follow the court order.\nMoore, 56, testified that he followed his conscience and did nothing to violate judicial ethics.\n"To acknowledge God cannot be a violation of the Canons of Ethics. Without God there can be no ethics," Moore testified.\nHe had also reiterated his stance that, given another chance to fulfill the court order, he again would refuse to do so. When one panelist, Circuit Judge J. Scott Vowell of Birmingham, asked Moore what he would do with the monument if he were returned to office, the chief justice said he had not decided, but added, "I certainly wouldn't leave it in a closet, shrouded from the public."
(08/28/03 5:13am)
MONTGOMERY, Ala. -- A 2 1/2-ton granite monument of the Ten Commandments that became a lightning rod in a legal storm over church and state was wheeled from the rotunda of the Alabama Supreme Court building Wednesday as protesters knelt, prayed and chanted, "Put it back!"\nSuspended Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore, who installed the engraved set of tablets two years ago and risked his career to keep it there after a federal judge ordered it removed, said he would take his fight to the U.S. Supreme Court.\n"It is a sad day in our country when the moral foundation of our laws and the acknowledgment of God has to be hidden from public view to appease a federal judge," he said.\nTo the dismay of scores of supporters who had held a weeklong vigil outside the front doors, the 5,280-pound monument was jacked up by a work crew and taken away to a back room with a heavy-duty hydraulic hand truck.\nIts two engraved tablets were removed from the block-like base. Building officials did not immediately say where the two parts would be stored or whether the public would ever be allowed to see them.\nU.S. District Judge Myron Thompson of Montgomery had ruled last year that the monument violates the Constitution's ban on government endorsement of a religious doctrine.\n"This is a tremendous victory for the rule of law and respect for religious diversity," said the Rev. Barry 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."\nAs the monument left public view, a federal judge in Mobile dismissed a lawsuit that had been filed this week in a last-ditch effort to block its removal.\nThe long-running dispute has galvanized evangelical Christians and conservatives in this Bible Belt state and around the country.\nAsked about President Bush's view of the controversy, White House spokeswoman Claire Buchan said: "It is important that we respect our laws and our courts. In some instances the courts have ruled that the posting of Ten Commandments is OK. In other circumstances they have ruled that it's not OK. In either case, there is always opportunity for appeal of courts' decisions."\nOutside the Alabama courthouse, demonstrators laid face-down on the pavement, knelt in prayer on the steps, and recited the Pledge of Allegiance and the Lord's Prayer. Four men linked arms and chanted, "Put it back!"\nHundreds took part in the vigil, and organizers said the protest would not end with the monument's removal.\n"They can move it out of view, but they can't move it out of our hearts," said Rick Moser, 47, of Woodstock, Ga.\nProtest organizer Patrick Mahoney, director of the Christian Defense Coalition, said it is critical for the supporters to remain after the monument's removal to "stand with Christ and against judicial tyranny."\nMoore was suspended by a judicial ethics panel for defying Thompson's order to move the monument. The federal judge had threatened to impose $5,000 daily fines on the state, and Moore's eight fellow justices on the Supreme Court overruled Moore and ordered the monument taken away.\nAlabama Attorney General Bill Pryor, a Republican, defended the court-ordered removal of the monument and is overseeing the prosecution of Moore on the ethics charge, which will be heard before the seven-member Court of the Judiciary. It has the power to discipline and remove judges.\nMoore contends the federal judge has no authority to tell Alabama's chief justice to remove the monument.\nRepublican Gov. Bob Riley said in a statement that he hopes the monument's removal is "brief and temporary," with the U.S. Supreme Court ordering it moved back. He said he will file court papers supporting Moore.
(04/29/02 3:37am)
ATLANTA -- Saturday, fans of Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes mourned the loss of an artist they said profoundly influenced their lives. \nShirley Martin said she heard Friday about the death of the rapper from the Grammy-winning trio TLC, but was still in disbelief the next day. \n"I don't believe that this is true,'' Martin, 31, said while signing a giant card for Lopes' family at an Atlanta mall. "I think she's such a beautiful person. She had a beautiful smile, and it's like, how could we lose someone like that?'' \nLopes, who made headlines with both her music and personal life, died Thursday in a vehicle crash near Jutiapa, Honduras. \nThe band's manager, Bill Diggins, was expected to fly to Honduras Saturday night, identify the body and return it to Atlanta Sunday, said Rob Goldstone, publicist for Diggit Entertainment. Goldstone said the funeral probably would be held Wednesday or Thursday in Atlanta. \nHe said Lopes' mother and the other members of TLC -- Tionne "T-Boz'' Watkins and Rozonda "Chilli'' Thomas -- were devastated, but have been comforted by thousands of letters and flowers from Lopes' fans and other artists. \nKelly Majid, 36, of Atlanta, said she especially enjoyed TLC songs such as "Waterfalls,'' which she said were about "protecting yourself -- not having unprotected sex or getting into drugs. Just trying to live your life right, and that's what I want for my child.'' \nRashan Godfrey, a morning show host with the Atlanta radio station that sponsored the card-signing, said she befriended Lopes while working as her personal assistant from 1998 to 1999. \n"Lisa was a very giving person,'' Godfrey said. "She was very, very smart. I would consider her a genius. She could draw, she could cook, she could make clothes. That was what people didn't know about her -- what she could do besides rap and fashion.''