Anti-queer Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore suspended for remainder of term

Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore has been suspended from the bench for telling probate judges to defy federal orders regarding gay marriage.

The Alabama Court of the Judiciary (COJ) issued the order suspending Moore from the bench for the remainder of his term. Oh yeah, they also snatched his paycheck.

“For these violations, Chief Justice Moore is hereby suspended from office without pay for the remainder of his term. This suspension is effective immediately,” the order stated.

The court found him guilty of all six charges of violation of canon of judicial ethics. Moore’s term is to end in 2019. Gov. Robert Bentley will name a replacement for Moore.

This is now the second time that Moore has been bumped from the bench. In 2003, he was removed as chief justice after refusing a federal court order to remove a monument of the Ten Commandments he had placed in the state judicial building. He was re-elected in 2012.

The COJ made it very clear that this decision was based on Moore’s poor judicial ethics, not his moral code.

“At the outset, this court emphasizes that this case is concerned only with alleged violations of the Canons of Jucial Ethics,” the COJ states. “This case is not about whether same-sex marriage should be permitted: indeed, we recognize that a majority of voters in Alabama adopted a constitutional amendment in 2006 banning same-sex marriage, as did a majority of states over the last 15 years.”

They might not be champions for queer rights … but thanks anyway!