Three law clerks who served under ousted Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore are packing their things after being handed a pink slip last week. Following a series of actions aimed at removing all trace of the former judge, Moore’s legal counsel isn’t letting the matter go quietly.
Mat Staver, who represents the former Chief Justice, called the move “outrageous.” According to him, it’s a slap in the face toward a judge whose fate is not yet finally decided.
“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.
Last week, Acting Chief Justice Lyn Stuart also ordered that Moore remove his belongings from his state office by October 18. A press release from Staver’s office questioned Stuart’s timing, and called it an “insult” that Moore will have to clean his former workspace while accompanied by a marshal.
“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,” Staver said in a statement. “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.”
Moore’s team filed an appeal against his suspension on September 30th.
Meanwhile, House Representative Will Ainsworth (R- Guntersville) has put forth a plan to reform the panel that suspended Moore, calling the Court of the Judiciary a “Star Chamber of biased and unaccountable judges.”
“Because of the unjust punishment levied upon the chief justice for his moral stand, I will explore sponsoring a constitutional amendment that reforms the Court of the Judiciary, forces its members to be accountable for their decisions, and demands that an honest, ethical, and unbiased process be used in its deliberations,” Rep. Ainsworth said in an op-ed.
