MONTGOMERY, AL - Chief Justice Roy Moore filed a motion with the Alabama Supreme Court siding with the Alabama Political Reporter's (APR) request to unseal the record on the petition he filed in May 2016 against the Judicial Inquiry Commission (JIC). Under JIC Rule 5, the JIC investigation of a complaint is confidential, but the confidentiality ends when a charge is issued. On May 4, Chief Justice Moore filed a petition with the Alabama Supreme Court against the JIC when he learned that the JIC's investigation and impending charges were leaked to the media in violation of Rule 5. When the petition was filed on May 4, it was sealed because the JIC had not yet filed charges. On May 6, the JIC filed charges against him, two days after Moore's petition. Once a charge is filed, the matter is no longer confidential, and thus Chief Justice Moore and APR have requested the case be unsealed to the public. The case is No. 1150818, Ex parte Roy S. Moore (In re: Roy S. Moore v. Judicial Inquiry Commission of the State of Alabama).
