Alabama Court Justice Deserves Praise

Once in a great while a leader emerges whom is guided not by his own interests, but only by his convictions. It isn't often someone of this stature emerges, but occasionally it does happen. The most recent leader to fit this description is Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore.

Moore became Chief Justice in 2000. In 2001, he had a two ton monument of the Ten Commandments installed in the rotunda of the Alabama Supreme Court building, prompting a lawsuit by the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union, or "American Criminal Liberties Union," if you prefer), along with Americans United for the Separation of Church and State. The ACLU has a long history of bullying. Among its recent targets include that great threat to humanity, the Boy Scouts. The ACLU claims that the monument violates the separation of church and state clause in the U.S. Constitution. This is all well and good except for one thing - there is no separation of church and state clause in the constitution. Nowhere, in any article or amendment, will you find the phrase "separation of church and state."

The First Amendment deals with free speech and religious freedom. It states, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…" Firstly, a monument is not a law. Secondly, this law applies to Congress, and Chief Justice Moore is not a member of Congress.

The Founding Fathers clearly did not want a government sanctioned religion national religion. Nevertheless, religion was important to many of them. After all, the Declaration of Independence states, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights…" [emphasis mine]

Because the U.S. Constitution does not specifically deal with issues such as this, this is an issue that should be left to the states. Federal courts have no business getting involved. Unfortunately, they have, and now the U.S. Supreme Court has refused to hear the case. This is utmost hypocrisy. After all, the Ten Commandments are displayed in the U.S. Supreme Court building.

Chief Justice Moore enjoys tremendous support. A Mobile Registry-University of South Alabama polls shows that 77 percent of Alabama residents surveyed "approve" or "strongly approve" of the monument. Thousands have also protested in favor of the monument, and been arrested for civil disobedience, which is reminiscent of the Civil Rights struggle of a few decades ago. Many protestors have vowed to physically block any attempt to remove the monument.

Some have compared Chief Justice Moore's stand to that of another famous (or infamous) Alabaman, George Wallace. Reasonable people know this comparison is absurd, but I will respond nonetheless. Wallace's stand was in favor of a system of oppression and degradation, which was clearly in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment. In many ways, Moore's stand is much like that of Dr. Martin Luther King, who also understood the words of Saint Augustine, "an unjust law is no law at all."

I want to say at this point that I am not a fan of defying court orders. I generally believe that we must obey the law of land, as interpreted by our judges, even when we don't agree with their interpretation.

However, there are times when it becomes necessary, and now is such a time. As Chief Justice Moore said, " If the rule of law means to do everything a judge tells you to do, we would still have slavery in this country." He also said, "…I support people standing up for their rights, and if they don't stand up for their rights now, they'll have them completely taken away," which sums it all up perfectly.

U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson, who ordered the monument removed, has threatened to fine the state of Alabama for every day the monument remains. Ultimately, Moore may be arrested and imprisoned. He has already been suspended from the bench. Chief Moore has made it clear he has no intention of backing down, which shows just how brave he is. Most people would have backed down at this point. Indeed, the other Alabama Supreme Court Justices already have. But Moore has vowed to continue his valiant struggle for what is right, against a judiciary system that has already usurped far too much power.

For that, he deserves our praise.

- John Brown is a senior in political science at the University of Tennessee @ Knoxville. He can be reached at johnnyb325@aol.com, or by visiting www.johnnorrisbrown.com. This column originally appeared in the August 26, 2003 edition of The Daily Beacon, available here.