MONTGOMERY, AL - Today Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore filed a motion to recuse four of the current Alabama Supreme Court justices and three former justices who sat by designation in his May petition regarding the Judicial Inquiry Commission (JIC). Three of the current justices presided over the prior petition. These are named by the Chief in a sealed affidavit. The fourth current justice is Shaw, who did not preside over the prior petition. However, in his March 2016 concurring opinion, Shaw commented on the January 2016 Administrative Order, which is at issue in the present appeal. Three former justices, who also were named in the sealed affidavit, were specially appointed to preside over the prior petition filed by the Chief.
Prior to the current case, the past practice has been that the justices recuse when asked to review a matter involving a sitting justice of the Court.
In the motion to recuse, Chief Justice Moore requests that replacement justices be selected by a random and publicly observable drawing from a pool of sitting circuit judges.
"The Chief Justice wants to have a fair and objective panel of nine judges to review his appeal. Anyone who has sat on any prior proceedings involving this case and anyone who has a conflict of interest should recuse and not preside over this appeal. Chief Justice Moore is asking for a fair and transparent process," said Mat Staver, Founder and Chairman of Liberty Counsel.
