The World Around You

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Dean Esmay has given his take on the Roy Moore situation. I understand what he is saying, but I would challenge a couple of points.

1) Dean says, “I’m a Bright. But I think there is nothing wrong with a copy of the 10 Commandments in a public courtroom.” Neither does Judge Myron Thompson. He expressly says in his opinion that his decision is not that any display of the ten commandments in public space is unconstitutional. He said that this particular display, along with the evidence of how it came to be, is unconstitutional because Roy Moore has reached the point of proselytizing.

2) Dean also says,

By the way, I feel exactly the same way about school prayer and the displaying of chreches and whatnot by public institutions. There’s no conflict with the 1st amendment there, either. None. The courts over the past few decades have signed on to a view of the 1st Amendment that is, indeed, fundamentally illiberal and intolerant in this regard.

There IS a conflict with the intent of the First Amendment, to allow all people to worship freely, without government interference. When officers of the government use their official position to ordain a particular religion as not just their personal faith, but as something that is and should be common to everyone (though it isn’t), they cross the line. No one should care what religion Roy Moore is or what he displays in his personal office, but when he uses public space that does not belong to him to put forth his personal religious views he’s gone too far.

Just my humble opinion.

UPDATE: And evidently the opinion of Mr. Reynolds as well.

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AP reports,

A federal judge agreed Friday that the state of Alabama is in compliance with his order that suspended Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore’s Ten Commandments monument be moved from the rotunda of the Alabama Judicial Building.

Attorney General Bill Pryor told U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson in a conference call Friday morning that the monument was moved Wednesday and is now inside a locked storage room off of the employee lunchroom in an area behind the elevator on the building’s first floor, said Richard Cohen, attorney for plaintiffs who sued to have the monument removed.

“We told the court that we had verified the monument was moved and are satisfied the state is in compliance with the court order,” said Cohen of the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Cohen said the judge told attorneys that he would issue an order later Friday declaring the state in compliance with his order.

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Follow this link to submit possible questions for Governor Riley or the opponents of Amendment 1. These questions will be posed by WSFA in Montgomery during a special to air on Tuesday night. Here’s another chance to get your questions answered.

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If you don’t know about “The Kiss” from last night’s MTV Video Music Awards, Kevin has the pictures at his website and has created a caption contest to go along with them.

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The Attorney General has issued an opinion on the ability of schools to use public resources to support and educate about Amendment 1,

Gov. Bob Riley and school chiefs are within their legal rights to use public funds and facilities in promoting the Sept. 9 tax referendum, according to an opinion issued Thursday by the attorney general’s office.

The opinion said universities routinely use public funds to hire lobbyists to educate lawmakers about their funding needs, and this is comparable activity.

“This office sees no legal distinction between that activity and spending funds to educate voters in the context of a constitutional amendment,” the opinion read.

It would be illegal, the opinion stated, if public officials tried to intimidate public employees into voting a certain way.

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Francis Wilkinson, in an online piece for the American Prospect does a good job of explaining how the Governor and others have come to the view that Alabama’s tax system is immoral and un-Christian. In the end, Wilkinson describes when George Wallace reached the point where he changed his heart and asked for forgiveness from African-Americans in Alabama to our current situation,

A number of conservative white evangelicals in Alabama — it’s impossible to tell how many — seem to be arriving at a similar breaking point. Forty years after King wrote his historic letter from jail asking white pastors to condemn racism and step up to the challenge of their faith, a new perspective is evolving.

The Sept. 9 referendum may be too early a test of the new evangelicals’ strength. If it succeeds, the word “miracle” will not be too strong a description. Resistance is powerful in Alabama, and change has always been weak. But the vote’s very existence is a clear marker on the road to change. For Hamill, Nabers and their spiritual kin, mindful of the silence that greeted King’s Birmingham letter, it will also be an opportunity to post a long-overdue reply.

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New entry from me at SportsBlog:

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Talk Left notes a report that indicates the internal affairs office of the FBI is investigating the crime lab chief in regards to the Oklahoma City bombing case. This could turn into a big story, if the allegations prove out.

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As Mac notes on his site, Roy’s Rock has hit E-bay. I wonder how much it would go for? Millions?

I heard the Vice-President from Clark Memorial, the company that built and installed the monument, say that it cost anywhere between $5,000 and $100,000 (pretty big range) to construct.

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Christopher Hitchens contributes to the debate over the ten commandments, with his own brand of analysis about not only the commandments, but the protestant conception of God,

One is presuming (is one not?) that this is the same god who actually created the audience he was addressing. This leaves us with the insoluble mystery of why he would have molded (”in his own image,” yet) a covetous, murderous, disrespectful, lying, and adulterous species. Create them sick, and then command them to be well? What a mad despot this is, and how fortunate we are that he exists only in the minds of his worshippers.

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This story should have a familiar ring to Alabamians. This could have happened, if Alabama had recall,

Emboldened by recall efforts in California, a group of Nevada conservatives upset about the largest tax increase in state history began recall proceedings Wednesday against the popular Republican governor.

The group filed a notice of intent with the Nevada Secretary of State’s Office in Las Vegas to seek a recall election against Gov. Kenny Guinn. Organizers have 90 days to collect 128,109 signatures, or 25 percent of those who cast ballots in the 2002 general election.

UPDATE: Please note the date of this post. Visit my main page for the latest news by clicking on the word Main above. Or go to this recent post.

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Roy’s Rock has been moved from the rotunda of the State Judicial Building at approximately three minutes after 9:00 am this morning.

I noticed a greatly increased police presence in downtown Montgomery this morning. Local radio is reporting that the ten commandments monument is in the process of being moved to another location in the state Judicial Building. AP reports,

A moving company began preparations Wednesday morning to move the Ten Commandments from the rotunda of the Alabama Judicial Building to comply with a federal court order to remove it from public display.

Patrick Mahoney, director of the Christian Defense Coalition, said state officials told him that the monument would be moved to another location within the building and that moving equipment is already inside. Two state police officers and two state police officers could be seen studying the monument to determine how to move it.

Mahoney said building manager Graham George told him that monument will not be covered and that he will be allowed inside to see it once it’s moved. Mahoney said he doesn’t know whether the monument’s new location will be accessible to the public.

Protest organizers asked the crowd outside the Judicial Building not to rush the building or do anything except pray.

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Acting Chief Justice Gorman Houston released a statement directly contradicting statements made by John Giles of the Christian Coalition. Giles charged that Moore had been denied access to his office and that his employees’ jobs were being threatened. He even went so far as to call the tactics a coup,

Phillip Jauregui, one of Moore’s lawyers, said he could not address whether the chief justice had been denied access to his office.

Houston’s statement — released by his staff attorney, Marc Ayers, late Monday — contradicted Giles’ account.

“The chief justice has access both to his office and to his employees,” the statement read. “Furthermore, his employees’ jobs have in no way been put in jeopardy or otherwise threatened. Suggesting the existence of a ‘coup’ is patently absurd, wholly irresponsible, and, therefore, immoral.”

The statement went on to say that the only limit on Moore’s access was a rule of the Judicial Inquiry Commission, the judicial ethics panel. That rule specifies that judges cannot continue to work while charges are pending with the Court of the Judiciary.

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Latest post at Sports Blog:

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Anthony Sebok from FindLaw.com does a good job of picking apart the parallels to Martin Luther King Jr. and the civil rights movement that have been invoked by Roy and his supporters.

For Moore to claim that his position today is anything like that of King’s in 1963 is incredible. Let’s state the obvious: Moore is one of the most privileged people in Alabama today. Not only is he privileged by his race and gender, but he is the highest judge in the state. Nothing stops him or his supporters from pressing their point of view.
…
Moore’s actions raise the interesting question of what a judge should do when his or her oath of office conflicts with the law or constitution of the land. Not only American judges in the antebellum era but also judges in Nazi Germany and apartheid-era South Africa have faced this issue.

The solution is not easy. Sometimes a judge can find ways to interpret the law that conform to both its language and his or her morality. But if he or she cannot, if the law is clearly immoral, then the judge’s only moral choice might be to resign and become a private citizen.

UPDATE: James has an excellent analysis of this piece as well.

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Here’s a great piece from the San Francisco Chronicle discussing the discrepancies in different versions of the ten commandments. A particularly interesting point,

Then there is the question of what the commandments were meant to mean.

For example, the First Commandment that “Thou shalt have no other gods before me” indicates that it was OK to have gods other than Yahweh, so long as Yahweh was No. 1.

Monotheism came later.

“Thou shalt not commit adultery” is either commandment six or seven and originally only forbade sex with a married woman.

Married men were free to have sex with other females. That’s because establishing paternity, not maintaining sexual purity, was the reason for that commandment.

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Check out my latest posts on the Indianapolis Colts and Tampa Bay Bucs at Sports Blog!

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This is an interesting tidbit from the latest AP story the Roy Moore saga,

The monument is expected to be removed this week, though at least one company contacted about removing it declined the job. Clark Memorial, a Birmingham company that built and moved the monument into the building, declined to take it out for business and personal reasons, company vice president Charles Tourney said Monday.

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I neglected to congratulate Al Franken on his favorable ruling against Bill O’Reilly and Fox News Channel. Al responds to 10 questions from Time Magazine this week.

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My first post to the brand new Sports Blog:

The Indianapolis Star gives a preview of the Colts’ match-up with Denver on Monday Night Football. Coach Dungy expects to play the starters into the third quarter, which should make for a well played first half at least.

Thus far, the defense appears to be a step ahead of the offense.

The defense has yielded only 438 total yards and 20 points to Chicago and Seattle. More encouraging has been its proclivity for registering plays that can turn a game: eight takeaways and eight sacks.

“We just want to go out there and play well and get ourselves ready for Cleveland,” defensive end Brad Scioli said, referring to the Sept. 7 regular-season opener on the road against the Browns. “We have to keep getting better.”

The same objective drives the Peyton Manning-led offense.

“We hope to go out there and put up a lot of points in the first half,” Manning said.

The No. 1 offense hasn’t exactly appeared in midseason form as the Colts have split their first two preseason games. Manning has directed eight drives that have generated only two touchdowns, both last week against the Seahawks.

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Check out the brand new Sports Blog. I will be one of the contributors. I would appreciate any news tips, especially regarding the Indianapolis Colts and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Feedback will be appreciated as this new effort gets off the ground.

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I was thrilled to see an editorial in the Birmingham News this morning that focuses on the irony of the ads that are currently filling the airwaves opposing Amendment 1.

Funny, in an ironic sort of way. Alfa, the group providing the lion’s share of TAC’s contributions to fight the plan, is one of Montgomery’s most powerful special interests. And Alfa, through thousands of dollars of contributions to current lawmakers’ re-election campaigns in 2002, helped make sure many of them returned to the State House. Now, though, Gambacurta says, “our side” doesn’t trust the Legislature “to do the right thing.”

Maybe that’s because the Legislature, including many lawmakers who received campaign contributions from Alfa or Alfa-affiliated political action committees, approved Riley’s proposal to raise the nation’s lowest property taxes on large land and timber owners. Alfa, needless to say, was furious.

And the “piggy bank slush fund” is actually unearmarked dollars, which can be used where needs are greatest, instead of where they are directed by law. Unearmarking those dollars allows for more efficiency in state government, which TAC claims it wants.

I’m afraid that dark days are ahead, but we’ll have brought it on ourselves. If the vote fails, I urge everyone to direct their legislator to follow the will of the people and cut services. If the vote is no, people need to see the consequences. The days of band-aids and hiding our problems need to end.

UPDATE: Steven also wrote a piece for the Sunday edition of the Mobile Register that explains why what the plan will actually do is move us toward a budget process that is more like most states and the federal government.

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Roy Moore has been suspended from his duties by the Alabama Judicial Ethics Commission, pending a trial by the Court of the Judiciary. WSFA has the most complete coverage right now, including a list of the actual charges,

CHARGE ONE

22. Chief Justice Moore, while serving as Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court, did fail to uphold the integrity and independence of the judiciary as required by Canon 1 of the Alabama Canons of Judicial Ethics in that, in the circumstances described in paragraphs 1-21, he willfully failed to comply with an existing and binding court order directed to him.

CHARGE TWO

23. Chief Justice Moore, while serving as Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court, did fail to observe high standards of conduct so that the integrity and independence of the judiciary may be preserved as required by Canon 1 of the Alabama Canons of Judicial Ethics in that, in the circumstances described in paragraphs 1-21, he willfully failed to comply with an existing and binding court order directed to him.

CHARGE THREE

24. Chief Justice Moore, while serving as Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court, did fail to avoid impropriety and the appearance of impropriety in all his activities as required by Canon 2 of the Alabama Canons of Judicial Ethics in that, in the circumstances described in paragraphs 1-21, he willfully failed to comply with an existing and binding court order directed to him.

CHARGE FOUR

25. Chief Justice Moore, while serving as Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court, did fail to respect and comply with the law as required by Canon 2A of the Alabama Canons of Judicial Ethics in that, in the circumstances described in paragraphs 1-21, he willfully failed to comply with an existing and binding ourt order directed to him.

CHARGE FIVE

26. Chief Justice Moore, while serving as Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court, did fail to conduct himself at all times in a manner that promotes public confidence in the integrity and impartiality of the judiciary as required by Canon 2A of the Alabama Canons of Judicial Ethics in that, in the circumstances described in paragraphs 1-21, he willfully failed to comply with an existing and binding court order directed to him.

CHARGE SIX

27. Chief Justice Moore, while serving as Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court, did fail to avoid conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice which brings the judicial office into disrepute as required by Canon 2B of the Alabama Canons of Judicial Ethics in that, in the circumstances described in paragraphs 1-21, he willfully failed to comply with an existing and binding court order directed to him.

DONE this 22nd day of August, 2003.

THE ALABAMA JUDICIAL

INQUIRY COMMISSION

_____________________

Randall L. Cole

Chairman

BY ORDER OF THE COMMISSION

UPDATE: Steven is surprised by this development.

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Well, it’s official, the call has gone out for every whacko group to set up shop in Montgomery. AP reports,

Meanwhile, the around-the-clock vigil by Moore supporters continued in downtown Montgomery, with about 100 protesters moving from the steps of the judicial building to a sidewalk in front of the federal courthouse, where Thompson works. Some ripped to pieces and burned a copy of Thompson’s ruling. Demonstrators also held a mock trial, in which Thompson was charged with breaking the law of God.

“We hold you, Judge Thompson, and the United States Supreme Court in contempt of God’s law,” said Flip Benham, director of the anti-aborition group, Operation Rescue.

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Kevin is looking to recruit contributors for a Sports Blog. Check it out if you’re interested.

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Kevin has a weekend caption contest up at Wizbang. Enter and enjoy.

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AP reports,

Chargers defensive tackle Leonardo Carson was arrested Thursday in his hometown of Mobile, Ala., for investigation of first-degree burglary and second-degree kidnapping.

Carson, on leave to attend his grandmother’s funeral, was booked into Mobile County Metro Jail and later released on $57,500 bond, according to an officer there who gave only his last name, Bernard.

Carson is due to rejoin the Chargers on Friday in Houston, where they play an exhibition game against the Texans on Saturday night.

Chargers general manager A.J. Smith said Thursday night the team was still trying to find out what happened.

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Washington Whispers reports online,

Retired Gen. Wesley Clark may still be a CNN analyst while he contemplates a run at the White House, but there’s one network show he has been barred from: “Lou Dobbs Tonight.” The reason? Dobbs believes that when Clark came on his show during the Iraq war and teed off on the Pentagon blueprint, the possible Democratic candidate was pushing his personal political agenda, not providing straight military analysis.

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Steven at PoliBlog has started the latest and greatest event in the blogosphere, the Parade of Trolls. Submit your best example of trollishness.

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WSFA reports,

The state judicial system’s web site had this notice concerning the state judicial complex. “The Supreme Court and State Law Library Building is closed to walk-in traffic until Monday, August 25, we will however be accepting telephone calls, telefaxs and emails.” Whether or not this message is connected to the movement of the monument is unknown.

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The editorial pages defend the decision of the Associate Justices of the Alabama Supreme Court today:

UPDATE: Mac has a good summary of the different stories that are out there.

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Having attended a family funeral myself yesterday, this story in this morning’s Birmingham News was particularly touching,

After 64 years of marriage, Mary Evancho Laborde couldn’t bear to let her husband go.

She said that just before she leaned over Raymond Laborde’s casket at his funeral this week to kiss him goodbye a final time.

But the sorrow was too much; the 89-year Hueytown woman’s heart stopped and she died right there.

On Thursday, Raymond, 88, and Mary were buried together in much the same way they lived - side by side, only inches apart.

“It’s almost like a fairytale, a sad fairytale,” said the Rev. Jack Hendricks Jr. of First United Methodist Church in Hueytown. “You don’t see many people who live together as long as they did that go out together.

“I would say it was God’s grace.”

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As has been reported, this account is from this morning’s Birmingham News,

The eight associate justices of the Alabama Supreme Court voted unanimously Thursday to overrule Chief Justice Roy Moore and order a monument to the Ten Commandments removed from the state judicial building rotunda.

The justices directed Graham George, manager of the judicial building, “to take all steps necessary … as soon as practicable” to comply with U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson’s Aug. 5 order to remove the monument from “non-private areas” of the building.

Justice Gorman Houston, the Supreme Court’s senior associate justice, said the justices left it up to George’s discretion whether to remove the 5,280-pound granite monument from the building or move it elsewhere in the building.

“It has to be left to his discretion because we don’t know what areas would bear that load,” said Houston. Efforts to reach George were unsuccessful.

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The Montgomery Advertiser editorial page again gets it right,

Not one member of the Alabama Legislature got there by magic. All 140 members were elected, not by some sinister force or some outside influence, but by the people of this state.

In short, they were put there by the people through the process of democracy. They stay there, or don’t, through the same process.

This is the stuff of grade-school civics books, to be sure, but the points were raised again this week in some challenging remarks by Mike Warren, chief executive of Energen Corp., in support of Gov. Riley’s tax and accountability package.

Responding to opponents’ description of the tax revenue in the package as a “slush fund,” Warren noted that the use of the funds can be monitored by any citizen who cares enough to do so and any legislator who tries to misuse the money can be voted out of office.

“The real truth is, the governor and the Legislature on a bipartisan basis have stuck their necks out for this plan, and the money is going to be spent like it should be spent,” he said. “The further truth is, if it’s not, if the Legislature attempts to undermine the clear intention of this legislation and the clear expectation of the voters, we’ll get’em. If they try it, we’ll vote’em out.”

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A curtain has been installed around the ten commandments monument, WSFA is reporting,

Early Thursday morning a curtain went up around the Ten Commandments monument in the Alabama Judicial Building. It is unclear at this time whether or not the curtain went up to provide a private viewing area for the monument or as a precursor to the movement of the monument. However, WSFA has confirmed the order to put up the curtain/partition came from Alabama Supreme Court’s associate justices.

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Attorney General Bill Pryor states in this morning’s Mobile Register that he expects the ten commandments monument to be “removed very soon”.

“My responsibility is to uphold the Constitution and the rule of law, and I will be doing my duty,” Pryor said when asked about the monument after a speech at the Business Council of Alabama’s annual governmental affairs conference at a Florida Panhandle resort.

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This morning’s Montgomery Advertiser reports,

The Biscuits named Megan Frazer and Greg Rauch as co-general managers Monday, and the Michigan graduate and Michigan State fan will move to Montgomery next month.

Just don’t expect “Hail to the Victors” to be the Biscuits’ fight song.

“I don’t think I’ll go that far,” Frazer said, “but I’d like it to be.”

Frazer and Rauch are already general managers at Class A teams owned by Tom Dickson and Sherrie Myers, who are buying the Class AA Orlando Rays and moving them to Montgomery next season.

Frazer, 29, runs the Charleston (W.Va.) Alley Cats, while Rauch, 32, is in charge of the Lansing Lugnuts. Rauch was already working for Dickson and Myers in Lansing when Frazer joined the Lugnuts in January 1997.

It sounds like Tom and Sherry are bringing their best people in to run this venture, this continues to bode well for the long-term success of the team.

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BAGHDAD, Iraq Aug 19 — An explosion tore through the United Nation’s headquarters in Baghdad causing scores of casualties, U.S. military sources and witnesses said.

UPDATE: