Federal Judge Will Rule on Chief Justice Moore’s Motion Without a Hearing
Wednesday, August 3, 2016
U.S. District Judge Harold Albritton informed the lawyers that he had what he needed to decide the Judicial Inquiry Commission’s (JIC) motion to dismiss Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore’s (R) federal complaint.
After Alabama’s JIC charged and suspended Chief Justice Roy Moore, the conservative Chief Justice sued the JIC in federal court in May arguing that the automatic provision is unconstitutional. Alabama is the only state that has a provision in which judges are automatically removed from the bench when the JIC files a complaint no matter how minor the complaint may be. The judge is removed from the bench until a final resolution.
Moore is being defended by Liberty Counsel. Liberty Counsel Founder and Chairman, Matt Staver wrote in a statement, “Alabama’s automatic removal provision is an oddity that runs against the assumption in law that a person is innocent until proven otherwise. This provision wreaks havoc among the judiciary and places too much power in the hands of the JIC. Even when a judge prevails in court, the judge has already been punished by the process. This provision should be struck down.”
Moore’s attorneys argue that the automatic provision turns due process on its head because the judge has to prove innocence to return to the bench. The JIC’s attorneys defended their statutorial authority to discipline judges, including Alabama’s unique automatic suspension clause.
Read more: http://www.alreporter.com/federal-judge-will-rule-on-chief-justice-moores-motion-without-a-hearing/
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