The World Around You

The hearing for suspended Chief Justice Roy Moore has concluded. The decision now rests in the hands of the Alabama Judicial Inquiry Commission.

In closing statements, Assistant Attorney General John Gibbs said Moore’s public refusal to obey a court order “undercuts the entire workings of the judicial system.”

“What message does that send to the public, to other litigants? The message it sends is: If you don’t like a court order, you don’t have to follow it,” he said.

Moore attorney Terry Butts said the canons of ethics are vague. “Propriety is often in the eye of the beholder,” he said. And in an apparent reference to the popularity of Moore’s stand with many in Alabama, Butts warned the panel: “Remember as you judge Roy Moore today that tomorrow you may be judged.”

Congratulations to the Prattville Lions, who moved into the Top 25 in the nation according to the National Prep Football Poll this week.

Fall is upon us. The leaves are changing color and falling to the ground. The high school football playoffs have begun and the Prattville Lions will generate a great deal of excitement over the coming weeks. I have little doubt that somewhere along the way the collective blood pressure of the Preferred Community will elevate thanks to a decision by the men in stripes. It is a pastime of many to verbally assault and abuse the officials. But have you ever thought about why we need referees? What is their function?

Their sole purpose is not to drive the fans crazy or to attempt to influence the outcome of the game. They are there to enforce a book of rules and ensure a level of fairness for all participants. Without referees there would be chaos on the field, and completing a game would be next to impossible. We are not always going to agree with every call, especially if it goes against the Lions, but in the end we are glad someone is there to enforce the rules in a relatively fair and impartial manner.

Our political system has it’s own zebras. They are charged with enforcing another rulebook, our country’s laws. As with our football officials, we are not always going to agree with every call, but we depend on them to follow the rules and make an appropriate decision. Our judiciary often endures a level of verbal abuse that is reserved only for them. They understand it comes with the territory. Just as we do not expect a referee to change his decision based on a poll of the crowd, we would not desire a legal ruling to be made based on popular vote.

The rulebook of our nation’s laws is much larger than the rules of high school football, of course, but it is also much more pertinent. The referees do not set the rules someone else performs that job. In the case of our political structure the legislative branch performs that function. You may even hear a referee say, “I don’t make the rules.” This trite saying could just as easily be uttered by one of our judges.

Is the referee always right? No, that is why we have instituted instant replay, grading and other mechanisms at the highest levels of sport to ensure an added degree of fairness. In our judicial system we have courts of appeals and courts of last resort. The power is not placed at the feet of any one judge, but many.

I wish you would remember this simple analogy the next time you hear someone mention a judiciary that is “out of control.” A judge who makes a ruling based firmly in established case law is performing his job at the highest level and it should be respected. Especially, when it has been appealed before yet more judges. Boo all you want, but don’t blame the referee. He is not the one making the rules.

Today is the day that suspended Chief Justice Roy Moore goes before the Alabama Judicial Inquiry Commission to face charges that he violated the Code of Judicial Ethics.

Attorneys for Roy Moore asked the Alabama Court of the Judiciary on Tuesday to acquit the suspended Supreme Court chief justice of ethics charges filed after he refused a federal judge’s order to remove a Ten Commandments monument from the state courthouse rotunda.

The chief justice, the lawyers argue, was simply following his oath of office and the state constitution, which they assert trump a federal court order that Moore has repeatedly described as “unlawful” and inconsistent with the U.S. Constitution.

“Failure to comply with an order is illegal only if the order itself is legal,” Moore’s attorneys wrote in a strongly worded pre-trial brief that in large part challenges some of the fundamental precepts of America’s judicial system. “… When a federal court tells the chief justice that he may not perform his duties as required under law it is the federal district court judge who is violating the law.”

Once again, Moore’s attorneys have found the most convoluted pretzel logic to justify what he did. This should be an open and shut case. Even Moore’s attorneys are predicting that the hearing will conclude today. The facts are not in dispute, the question is whether the facts demonstrate a violation of Judicial Ethics.

The Birmingham News editorial page offers it’s assessment succinctly this morning,”Members of the Court of the Judiciary must not let the court of public opinion - or their own re-election chances - determine Moore’s fate. Instead, they must put all that aside and dispense justice to the justice.”

I will continue to update this post as news trickles down about the trial today. Proceedings begin at 9am.

UPDATE: