Chief Justice Roy Moore's judicial ethics trial likely months away

[Leroy N. Soetoro]

http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/story/news/politics/southunionstreet/2
016/05/09/roy-moores-judicial-ethics-trial-likely-months-away/84144350/

Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore won't go to trial immediately.

Moore will have until the beginning of June to respond to the six charges
brought against him by the Judicial Inquiry Commission (JIC) Friday. Under
the rules of the court, a hearing must be set at least 30 days in advance,
meaning a trial could not start until July at the earliest.

The JIC accused Moore of violating the state Canons of Judicial Ethics
over a January order where Moore tried to stop the issuance of same-sex
marriage licenses, despite a U.S. Supreme Court ruling upholding their
constitutionality.

A proceeding could be dramatic. Montgomery attorney Julian McPhillips, who
represented Jefferson County Circuit Judge Dorothea Baptiste before the
court in 2013 over charges she improperly jailed witnesses in family court
cases, said his client's trial took three days before the commission.

“We had quite a slugfest back and forth,” he said. “It was quite heated,
and I'm sure it will be in this case.”

On Jan. 6, the chief justice ordered the state’s probate judges to stop
issuing same-sex marriage licenses, more than six months after the U.S.
Supreme Court struck down state bans on same-sex marriage in Obergefell v.
Hodges, and almost a year after U.S. District Judge Callie V.S. Granade
struck down Alabama's bans.

Moore, an outspoken social conservative, argued the Obergefell ruling only
applied to the plaintiffs involved and that probate judges could not issue
licenses to same-sex couples while a state case on the matter, brought by
two groups opposed to same-sex marriage, was pending.

For the most part, Alabama probate judges ignored the order, which led the
Southern Poverty Law Center to add to a pending complaint about Moore’s
actions over same-sex marriage. The JIC accuses Moore of failing to
respect and follow the law; failing to act with impartiality; failing to
avoid impropriety or the appearance of impropriety in his action and
failing to abstain from comment on a matter pending before his court.

Moore said in a statement Friday the JIC had no authority over
administrative actions and promised to fight. His attorney, Mat Staver,
echoed that stance in a phone interview Monday.

“The Judicial Inquiry Commission has been repeatedly told by the Alabama
Supreme Court it cannot resolve legal disputes,” he said. “And yet all six
of these charges center around the conflict between federal and state
courts.”

Staver also said they intended to ask questions about leaks of the JIC's
decision to the media.

Richard Cohen, president of the SPLC, said in a phone interview Monday
Moore was playing "word games."

"He told the probate judges to enforce Alabama’s ban on same-sex
marriages, despite the fact he knew they had been ordered to do otherwise
by a federal district court and despite the fact the U.S. Supreme Court
said such bans were unconstitutional," he said.

The Alabama Attorney General’s office had no immediate comment on the
charges Monday. The rules of the Judicial Inquiry Commission require the
attorney general’s office to prosecute the charges barring a conflict of
interest, in which case the JIC could hire its own counsel.

The Court of the Judiciary blends people from different backgrounds.

Michael Joiner, a member of the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals,
presides over the Court of the Judiciary; two circuit judges and a
district judge also serve on it. The Alabama State Bar appoints two
lawyers to the Court. Three people who are not attorneys also serve – two
appointed by Gov. Robert Bentley, one by Lt. Gov. Kay Ivey.

“In our case, we were grateful to have some non-lawyers on our panels,”
McPhillips said. “One executive from Birmingham had a measure of sympathy
for us.”

The Court suspended Batiste for 90 days without pay. She continues to
serve on the bench.

It would take at least six of the nine members of the court to convict
Moore. Sanctions could range from censure to suspension. The Court could
remove the chief justice, but all nine members of the court would have to
vote to do so. Moore could appeal a verdict to the Alabama Supreme Court.

The Chief Justice has appeared before the court before. The JIC charged
Moore in August 2003 after refusing to obey U.S. District Judge Myron
Thompson’s order to remove a Ten Commandments monument from the Heflin-
Tolbert Judicial Building. The Court of the Judiciary removed Moore after
a trial in November, a little over two months later. The Alabama Supreme
Court rejected Moore’s appeal the following year.

Staver argued the current case differed from Moore's 2003 removal because
the chief justice's January 6 order, which told probate judges they had a
"ministerial duty" to uphold the state's 1998 and 2006 bans on same-sex
marriage despite Obergefell, did not explicitly order the probate judges
to defy the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling.

Judges may also negotiate settlements before going to trial. In January,
Perry County Circuit Court Judge Marvin Wiggins, a former Alabama State
University trustee, agreed to censure by the court after telling those who
appeared in court to pay fines that they could give blood as an
alternative.

"We have no intention of negotiating with JIC at this stage," Staver said.
"He didn’t do anything wrong."


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