Alabama Supreme Court Requests Response for Unsealing Moore Case

MONTGOMERY, AL - The Alabama Supreme Court gave the Judicial Inquiry Commission (JIC) a deadline to present just cause why the motion to unseal the case of Chief Justice Roy Moore, filed by the Alabama Political Reporter, should not be granted. The JIC has fourteen days to respond.

On behalf of Chief Justice Moore, Liberty Counsel filed a motion asking the Court to unseal the record so the public could review the matter. On October 19, the Alabama Political Reporter filed a motion with the Alabama Supreme Court demanding that the case be unsealed for public viewing. To this point, the JIC has not provided the Supreme Court any rationale for its decision to keep this case sealed. Chief Justice Moore has repeatedly asked for the unsealing of the case that underlies his petition filed in May regarding the JIC's breach of confidentiality and the 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 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," said Mat Staver, Founder and Chairman of Liberty Counsel. "The Chief Justice has requested, more than once, that this case be unsealed, and the Alabama Supreme Court has consistently refused. The Court's desire to keep hidden the proceedings on the Petition for Relief filed by the Chief Justice is unconstitutional," said Staver.