Alabama’s top
judge has been suspended for the remainder of his term for defying federal
court rulings that legalized same-sex marriage.
Roy Moore, 69,
violated judicial ethics with an order seen as directing probate judges to deny
marriage licences to gay couples, a judicial panel ruled.
The decision
was a “politically motivated effort” by radical groups, he said.
His lawyer has
vowed to appeal the decision.
The BBC
reports that is is the second suspension for Mr. Moore, an outspoken
conservative.
In 2003, he
was removed for refusing to take down a monument of the 10 Commandments he
installed at a state building.
He was
re-elected as chief justice of the state’s Supreme Court in 2012.
In Friday’s
decision, the nine-member Alabama Court of the Judiciary unanimously decided to
suspend him for the remainder of his term without pay.
The move
essentially removes Mr. Moore from the bench, as he will be unable to seek
re-election at the end of his term, in January 2019, because of age
restrictions, his lawyer Mat Staver said.
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