Today at a press conference, Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore and his attorneys called upon the Alabama Judicial Inquiry Commission ("JIC") to dismiss unfounded and politically motivated complaints filed against him by the Southern Poverty Law Center ("SPLC"), People for the American Way, the Human Rights Campaign, atheists, and homosexual activists.

Chief Justice Moore is represented by Mat Staver, Founder and Chairman of Liberty Counsel, and Philip Jauregui, President and Founder of Judicial Action Group. The attorneys for the Chief Justice explained that the complaints against him are not about ethical misconduct, but instead are an attack on his statements and administrative orders about the legal status of Alabama’s Sanctity of Marriage laws.

Under the Alabama Constitution, the Chief Justice has administrative authority over Alabama probate judges. When a federal district court ruled against the Alabama Sanctity of Marriage laws, the probate judges were confused about whether they should issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. In February 2015, Chief Justice Moore issued an Administrative Order stating that the opinion from the federal court applied only to the parties in that case and that the probate judges as non-parties to that case were bound to follow Alabama law.

The complaints against Chief Justice Roy Moore are about marriage, as indicated by the rally held on the steps of the Supreme Court. He did nothing wrong. The politically motivated complaints filed with the JIC have no basis in the Canons of Judicial Ethics. The Alabama Supreme Court is the only body that has statutory authority to overrule administrative orders of the Chief Justice.

Read our press release for more information.