Chief Justice Moore's Law Clerks Fired Despite the Pending Case

MONTGOMERY, AL - Adding insult to injury, Acting Justice Lyn Stuart and Justice Michael Bolin summoned Chief Justice Roy Moore's head law clerk and two other law clerks and terminated them. A marshal and one of Stuart's staff members were sent to order the law clerks to pack their belongings and turn in their keys.

Earlier this week, Stuart demanded Chief Justice Moore remove all his personal items from his office by October 18, 2016. She also told the Chief that he will be escorted by a marshal. "This is outrageous," said Mat Staver, Founder and Chairman of Liberty Counsel. "The appeal is pending but these justices are acting as if the case is over. And these actions are being done despite the pending motion for recusal. These acts underscore Chief Justice Moore, who filed the motion to recuse certain justices on the Court," said Staver. Chief Justice Moore has filed an appeal of the decision issued by the Court of the Judiciary on September 30 to suspend him for the remainder of his term, which runs through January 2019. The Chief Justice also filed a motion to recuse four of the current Alabama Supreme Court justices and three former justices who sat by designation in his May 2016 petition regarding the Judicial Inquiry Commission. He also issued a statement asking the Court to unseal the case that underlies his motion. "The hostile treatment of Chief Justice Moore, the demand he remove his personal effects, and the abrupt termination of his three law clerks (who had been temporarily reassigned to other justices) is unseemly. The case is still pending, yet these justices make it appear like they have already decided against Chief Justice Moore. They need to decide the motion to recuse and the appeal needs to be heard by an objective and unbiased panel of judges," said Staver.

---