Chief Justice Moore Urges Opening of Sealed Case

MONTGOMERY, AL -- Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore issued a statement today urging the unsealing of the case that underlies his motion, which he filed last Monday, for recusal of certain current and former Supreme Court justices. Because that case is sealed, Chief Justice Moore had to put the facts that substantiate his motion into a sealed affidavit viewable only by his fellow justices. The case is No. 1150818, Ex parte Roy S. Moore (In re: Roy S. Moore v. Judicial Inquiry Commission of the State of Alabama).

Chief Justice Moore stated: "The public is entitled to know what the Alabama Supreme Court has done in secret and to understand why the justices that participated in Case No. 1150818 are disqualified, not only from ruling on my appeal but also from playing any part in selecting replacement justices. The purpose of sealing a case is to protect the privacy of the parties from harmful disclosures, not to shield the Court from public understanding of its actions. I have, more than once, requested that this case be unsealed. The specially-constructed Court that ruled on Case No. 1150818 has consistently refused." The Chief Justice continued, "In 2000, the Alabama Supreme Court clearly stated that a judge who is disqualified for hearing a case cannot appoint a successor judge to hear the case. The Court said, 'Therefore, in order to avoid the appearance of impropriety, we hold that after a judge presiding in a particular case has been disqualified from hearing that case, under the Canons of Judicial Ethics, either voluntarily or by objection, he or she can take no further action in that case, not even the action of reassigning the case under Rule 13, Ala. R. Jud. Admin. For such a judge to make the reassignment would be contrary to Canon 3(C), because the impartiality of the reassignment might reasonably be questioned.' Ex Parte Jim Walter Homes, Inc., 776 So. 2d 76, 80 (Ala. 2000)."

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"The Court's desire to keep hidden the proceedings on the Petition for Relief filed by me in May 2015 is unconstitutional. Alabama's open courts provision, Art. I, § 13, Ala. Const. 1901 ('all courts shall be open'), is designed to prevent clandestine sessions. The chief purpose [of the open-courts provision] was to assail the existing evil of anciently holding courts in clandestine sessions ....' Swann v. Kidd, 79 Ala. 431, 432 (1885). The refusal to lift the seal on these proceedings offends the open courts provision of the Alabama Constitution and also the common law right of access to judicial proceedings. See Nixon v. Warner Commc'ns, Inc., 435 U.S. 589, 597-98 (1978) ('[T]he courts of this country recognize a general right to inspect and copy public records and documents, including judicial records and documents.')." "I call upon the press to demand that the Alabama Supreme Court unseal Case No. 1150818 and, if necessary, to intervene in that case. The public has a right to know why I have requested that the justices, who participated in that case, be disqualified from playing any role in my appeal. The Court has refused my requests to unseal Case No. 1150818. I ask the Supreme Court and the media to act," said Chief Justice Moore.