Today, U.S. District Judge Harold Albritton issued a ruling stating the federal court will abstain from deciding the constitutionality of the automatic removal provision in the Alabama Constitution. The federal court relied on the so-called Younger abstention doctrine that is named after a U.S. Supreme Court opinion. While federal courts have authority to decide cases within their jurisdiction, the Younger case has been applied to require some federal courts to abstain from ruling on an ongoing state case if that ruling would interfere with the state proceeding.

Liberty Counsel argued that striking down the automatic removal provision would not interfere with the ongoing state proceeding as the merits of the charges filed by the Judicial Inquiry Commission (JIC) will be separately decided in the Court of Judiciary.

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