Roy S. Moore v. Alabama Judicial Inquiry Commission

Summary

The court affirmed the Court of the Judiciary’s judgment that Chief Justice Moore violated the Alabama Canons of Judicial Ethics by issuing an administrative order directing probate judges to follow Alabama’s marriage laws despite a binding federal injunction, deciding a substantive issue pending before the Alabama Supreme Court, interfering with federal and state judicial proceedings, and participating in the later proceeding without recusal. The court also upheld the proceedings against challenges involving jurisdiction, notice, evidentiary use of prior conduct, confidentiality, due process, and the sanction imposed. The court concluded that the automatic suspension with pay pending adjudication did not violate due process and that the unanimous suspension for the remainder of Moore’s term did not violate the applicable voting rule.