‘Ten Commandments’ Judge Roy Moore Eyed for Alabama Senate Seat

He?s Back: Roy Moore, the ultra-conservative Alabama judge who resisted court orders to remove a monument to the Ten Commandments bounced back. Image by getty images

By Nathan Guttman December 22, 2016

The Alabama judge famous for installing a monument of the Ten Commandments outside his courthouse may soon be headed to Washington D.C.

Judge Roy Moore, whose disregard for separation of church and state has drawn harsh criticism throughout his years on the state bench, is one of eight candidates interviewed so far by Alabama governor to replace Senator Jeff Sessions once he is confirmed as Attorney General in Donald Trump’s cabinet.

Moore, Alabama’s Chief Justice, was ordered in the late 1990s to remove a plaque of the Ten Commandments from his courtroom and to stop holding prayers there. Moore eventually complied, only to commission in 2001 a huge granite monument of the Ten Commandments to be placed outside the state court building. After refusing to adhere to a federal decision to take down the statue, Moore was removed from office.

He was elected to the state supreme court in 2012, but suspended again in September after defying federal court orders to to allow same-sex marriages.

Contact Nathan Guttman at [email protected]

Nathan Guttman, staff writer, was the Forward’s Washington bureau chief. He joined the staff in 2006 after serving for five years as Washington correspondent for the Israeli dailies Haaretz and The Jerusalem Post. In Israel, he was the features editor for Ha’aretz and chief editor of Channel 1 TV evening news. He was born in Canada and grew up in Israel. He is a graduate of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO