Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore has been suspended for ordering probate judges to continue to honor the state’s laws on the sanctity of marriage in spite of the Supreme Court’s ruling on gay marriage in 2015.
Moore argued in January that the ruling didn’t apply to Alabama because it only targeted Michigan, Kentucky, Ohio and Tennessee.
Nine months later he’s now been suspended without pay for the rest of his tenure:
CBN NEWS – Alabama Chief Justice, Roy Moore has been suspended without pay for the rest of his term after refusing to grant marriage licenses to same-sex couples in Alabama.
Moore called the decision corrupt. His term ends in 2019, and at 69 years-old he will be barred from running again due to his age.
“This was a politically motivated effort by radical homosexual and transgender groups to remove me as chief justice of the Supreme Court because of outspoken opposition to their immoral agenda,” said Moore.
Matt Staver, Judge Moore’s lawyer and the founder of Liberty Counsel has fought against same-sex marriage and called the decision illegal.
There is a potential upside to this suspension:
Some are saying this will help Moore’s career as a politician and that it could be the beginning of a gubernatorial 2018 race.
The decision is said to be a ‘political win’ for Moore’s potential candidacy for governor, according to a recent article.
“He’s positioned to have a pretty good leg up on the competition,” said Natalie Davis, a political science professor at Birmingham-Southern College.
“I think he knows that the commission’s decision helps him, but also he’s committed to these kinds of positions. He hasn’t deviated. He’s not a flip-flop. That is appealing to the Alabama electorate. Alabamians do not want to be told what to do. In a way, that’s how they’ve been governed for many years,” Davis added.
Here’s a video from last August where Moore was addressing this hearing: