Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore issued a statement today urging the unsealing of the case that underlies his motion, which he filed last Monday, for 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 case is No. 1150818, Ex parte Roy S. Moore (In re: Roy S. Moore v. Judicial Inquiry Commission of the State of Alabama).

Chief Justice Moore stated: “The public is entitled to know what the Alabama Supreme Court has done in secret and to understand why the justices that participated in Case No. 1150818 are disqualified, not only from ruling on my appeal but also from playing any part in selecting replacement 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. I have, more than once, requested that this case be unsealed. The specially-constructed Court that ruled on Case No. 1150818 has consistently refused.”