OK, for both Davids:
A bit more detail ...
Moore installed the 5,280 pound monument after the building closed on the night of July 31, 2001. He did so without conferring with the other eight justices. He was acting, his attorney claimed, in his authority as leaseholder of the building (he was "Chief Justice").
But he did tell Florida television evangelist D. James Kennedy, who had a crew from his Coral Ridge Ministries film the installation and offered videotapes of it for a donation of $19. Moore has appeared numerous times on Kennedy's national syndicated religious television show.
"I'm the highest legal authority in the state," Moore declared in a recent interview with a reporter from the Los Angeles Times, "and I wanted it (the Commandments monument) there.
This is not the first time Moore has made news practicing religion in his public courtroom ...
April 9, 1997
MONTGOMERY, AL -- Judge Roy Moore displays a plaque of the Ten Commandments in his courtroom and opens sessions with prayer
And the judge, a Baptist whose fight to keep religion in his courtroom has inspired a national rally, invites others to pray with him -- as long as they're not Muslims, Hindus or Buddhists.
"They do not acknowledge the God of the holy Bible on which this country was founded," Moore says.
Tens of thousands are expected to attend a rally at the Alabama Capitol on Saturday to show their support for Moore, including national conservative leaders like Ralph Reed of the Christian Coalition and the Rev. Don Wildmon of the American Family Association.
The judge has won wide support from conservative groups as he appeals orders for him to stop opening court sessions with prayer and to remove or alter the wooden plaque of the Ten Commandments that hangs behind his bench and has since at least 1995.
Moore contends the First Amendment gives him the right to practice Christianity in his Etowah County Circuit courtroom.
Not all are aware that Moore draws a firm line against inviting anyone outside the Judeo-Christian tradition to conduct the prayers in his courtroom.
"My duty under the Constitution is to acknowledge the Judeo-Christian God," not the gods of other faiths, Moore said. "We are not a nation founded upon the Hindu god or Buddha."
Some of the judge's supporters were troubled that Moore was insisting on his own religious freedom but limiting its practice to one faith only.
"My personal view is that our founding fathers would have permitted prayer from other denominations," said former U.S. Sen. Jeremiah Denton, who will lead the Pledge of Allegiance at Saturday's rally.
Gov. Fob James, who has vowed to call out the National Guard to defend Moore's beliefs if necessary, said he doesn't think Moore is being intolerant of non-Christians by refusing to invite them to pray in his court.
"I think that's his call," said James, a rally speaker.
The Anti-Defamation League of B'nai Brith, which has filed a brief opposing Moore's side in the lawsuit, is concerned that the judge appears to be endorsing a specific religion to the exclusion of others, said Jay Kaiman of the ADL's Southeast regional office in Atlanta.
"If I had a problem ... and I was in front of Judge Moore -- and he knew what I did for a living and he knew my faith -- I would feel that would bias his attitude," said Kaiman, who is Jewish.
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January 27, 1998 -- Alabama High Court Dismisses Two Suits Over Ten Commandments on Technical Grounds
MONTGOMERY, AL -- In a closely watched case pitting church against state, the Alabama Supreme Court has dismissed a lawsuit filed by Gov. Fob James over the Ten Commandments, telling the governor in clear terms: Thou shalt not embroil this court in politics.
At the same time, Reuters reports, the court also dismissed a suit by the American Civil Liberties Union, which contended that the state's Chief Justice had the authority to order Circuit Judge Roy Moore of Etowah County to stop holding courtroom prayers and remove the Ten Commandments, which are posted on his courtroom wall.
The decision overturns a ruling by Circuit Judge Charles Price in November that the Ten Commandments and Moore's practice of inviting local clergy to his courtroom for prayers violated the U.S. Constitution, which prohibits the government from establishing a religion.
Moore appealed that decision to the state Supreme Court, which had allowed Moore to continue displaying the Ten Commandments in the meantime. The governor has threatened to send the National Guard to Gadsden to prevent removal of the Ten Commandments.
The Supreme Court's decision, while based on technical grounds, allows Moore to continue displaying the Ten Commandments behind his bench and conducting prayers prior to jury sessions. Both sides, according to The Associated Press, expressed dissatisfaction that the merits of the case remained undecided.
"This is pretty anti-climatic since the court did not get to the constitutional issues involved," said Olivia Turner, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Alabama, which had asked the Supreme Court to direct Chief Justice Perry Hooper Sr. to order Moore to stop practicing his faith in court.
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