The Court of the Judiciaryās
ruling is a brutal smackdown of the attempts by Moore and his attorney, Liberty Counselās Mat Staver, to justify the chief justiceās efforts to stop marriage equality from taking effect in his state.
The courtās judges make clear in the ruling that their decision on Mooreās case has nothing to do with their opinions about the Obergefell ruling, which they note āsome members of this court did not personally agree with or think was well reasoned.ā
However, they reject Mooreās recent
attempt to claim that his
January order requiring state probate judges to defy Obergefell and refrain from issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples was nothing more than a āstatus updateā on the law. In fact, they note that a press release from Staver himself the day the order was issued completely contradicts that claim:
Chief Justice Mooreās arguments that his actions and words mean something other than what they clearly express is not a new strategy. In 2003, this courtās order removing Chief Justice Moore quoted the following testimony from him before the [Judicial Inquiry Commission]:
āI did what I did because I upheld my oath. And thatās what I did, so I have no apologies for it. I would do it again. I didnāt say I would defy the court order. I said I wouldnāt move the monument. And I didnāt move the monument, which you can take as you will.ā