Roy Moore

For other uses, see Roy Moore (disambiguation).

Roy Moore
28th Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Alabama
In office January 15, 2013 – April 26, 2017 Suspended: May 6, 2016 – April 26, 2017
Preceded by	Chuck Malone
Succeeded by	Lyn Stuart
In office January 15, 2001 – November 13, 2003
Preceded by	Perry O. Hooper Sr.
Succeeded by	Gorman Houston (Acting)
Judge for the Sixteenth Circuit Court of Alabama
In office 1992–2000
Appointed by	H. Guy Hunt
Preceded by	Julius Swann
Succeeded by	William Millican
Assistant District Attorney for Etowah County, Alabama
In office 1977–1982
Personal details
Born	Roy Stewart Moore (1947-02-11) February 11, 1947 Gadsden, Alabama, U.S.
Political party	Republican (1992–present)
Other political affiliations	Democratic (before 1992)
Spouse(s)	Kayla Kisor
Children	4
Education	United States Military Academy (BS) University of Alabama School of Law (JD)
Website	Campaign website
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Service/branch	United States Army
Years of service	1969–1974
Rank	Captain
Unit	504th Military Police Battalion
Battles/wars	Vietnam War

Roy Stewart Moore (born February 11, 1947) is an American politician and former Alabama state judge best known for being twice elected to and twice removed from the Alabama Supreme Court. He also is the founder and president of the Foundation for Moral Law. Moore was the Republican nominee in the special election on December 12, 2017 to fill the United States Senate seat vacated by Jeff Sessions. Moore lost by 1.5% to Democratic candidate Doug Jones, after which he refused to concede defeat. His loss was widely blamed on mainstream Republicans and conservatives refusing to vote for him after a media campaign by Moore's progressive opponents, who successfully used traditional value politics against him to sway so-called cuckservative voters.

Moore has earned significant national attention and controversy over his strongly anti-homosexual, anti-Muslim, and far-right views, his belief that Christianity should order public policy,, as well as his past ties to neo-Confederates and white nationalist groups. According to Vox, if Moore is elected, he is likely to be the most far-right Senator, "far afield from even the most conservative Republican currently in the Senate". Moore was also a leading voice in the anti-Obama birther movement, which promoted the theory that former President Barack Obama was not born in the United States, instead most likely being born in Kenya. Moore had also argued that Obama was a secret Muslim, or at the very least strongly sympathetic to Islam. Among other beliefs, his view that Christianity should supersede public laws has been cause for criticism and has earned him the nickname of "Ayatollah of Alabama" by his critics.

Moore was elected to the position of Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court in 2001, but was removed from his position in November 2003 by the Alabama Court of the Judiciary for refusing to remove a monument of the Ten Commandments commissioned by him from the Alabama Judicial Building, despite orders to do so by a federal court. Moore twice sought the Republican nomination for the governorship of Alabama (in 2006 and 2010), but lost in the primaries. Moore was again elected Chief Justice in 2013, but was suspended in May 2016, for directing probate judges to continue to enforce the state's ban on same-sex marriage despite the fact that this had been deemed unconstitutional.

Following an unsuccessful appeal, Moore resigned in April 2017, and announced that he would run for the United States Senate seat which was vacated by Jeff Sessions, upon Sessions's confirmation as Attorney General of the United States. He defeated incumbent senator Luther Strange in the September 26 Republican primary runoff. Moore faced Democratic nominee Doug Jones in the special election on December 12, 2017, but lost after an unexpectedly large African-American turnout against him.

Between 2007 and 2012, Moore collected $1 million in undisclosed payments to himself from the Foundation for Moral Law, which he had founded in 2002 as a non-profit organization. This amount exceeded the revenue the foundation reported in its public tax filings. The foundation also paid for an assortment of fringe benefits and perks for Moore, and supported Moore's political ambitions. A number of charity and tax law experts have said that the foundation's activities "raised questions about compliance with IRS rules, including prohibitions on the use of a charity for the private benefit or enrichment of an individual".

Early life

Education and military service

Moore was born in Gadsden, Alabama, the seat of Etowah County, to construction worker Roy Baxter Moore (died 1967) and the former Evelyn Stewart. His parents met and married after his father's discharge from the United States Army during World War II. Moore was the oldest of five children; three sons and two daughters.

In 1954, the Moores relocated to Houston, Texas, the site of a postwar building boom. After about four years, they returned to Alabama, then moved to Pennsylvania, and then returned permanently to Alabama. Moore's father worked for the Tennessee Valley Authority, first building dams and later the Anniston Army Depot. Moore attended his freshman year of high school at Gallant near Gadsden, and transferred to Etowah County High School for his final three years, graduating in 1965.

On the recommendation of outgoing Democratic U.S. Representative Albert Rains, after confirmation by incoming Republican Representative James D. Martin of Gadsden, Moore was admitted to the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, where he graduated in 1969 with a Bachelor of Science degree. With the Vietnam War underway, Moore served in several posts as a military police officer, including Fort Benning, Georgia, and Illesheim, Germany before being sent to the Republic of Vietnam. Serving as the commander of 188th Military Police Company of the 504th Military Police Battalion, Moore was known to be very strict. Some of his soldiers gave him the derogatory nickname "Captain America", due to his attitude toward discipline. This role earned him enemies, and in his autobiography he recalls sleeping on sandbags to avoid a grenade or bomb being tossed under his cot, as many of his men had threatened him with fragging.

Moore was discharged from the United States Army as a captain in 1974, and was admitted to the University of Alabama School of Law that same year. He graduated in 1977 with a Juris Doctor degree and returned to Gadsden to begin private practice with a focus on personal injury and insurance cases.

Elections and travels

Moore soon moved to the district attorney's office, working as the first full-time prosecutor in Etowah County. During his tenure there, Moore was investigated by the state bar for "suspect conduct" after convening a grand jury to examine what he perceived to have been funding shortages in the sheriff's office. Several weeks after the state bar investigation was dismissed as unfounded, Moore quit his prosecuting position to run as a Democrat for the county's circuit-court judge seat in 1982. The election was bitter, with Moore alleging that cases were being delayed in exchange for payoffs. The allegations were never substantiated, and Moore overwhelmingly lost the Democratic runoff primary to fellow attorney Donald Stewart, whom Moore described as "an honorable man for whom I have much respect, and he eventually became a close friend". A second bar complaint against Moore followed, and though this too was dismissed as unfounded, Moore left Gadsden shortly thereafter.

Moore returned to Gadsden again in 1985. He ran in 1986 for Etowah County's district attorney position against fellow Democrat Jimmy Hedgspeth. He lost that election as well, and Moore returned to private practice in the city. During this period, he married his wife Kayla, switched his affiliation to the GOP, and added to his office a wooden Ten Commandments plaque.

Circuit Judge 1992–2000

Appointment

In 1992, Etowah County Circuit Judge Julius Swann died in office. Republican Governor H. Guy Hunt was charged with making a temporary appointment until the next election. Moore's name was floated by some of his associates, and a background check was initiated with several state and county agencies, including the Etowah County district attorney's office. Moore's former political opponent Jimmy Hedgspeth, who still helmed the D.A.'s office, recommended Moore despite personal reservations, and Moore was installed in the position he had failed to win in 1982. "The impossible had happened!" Moore wrote afterward. "God had given me something that I had not been able to obtain through my own efforts." Judge Moore ran as a Republican in the 1994 Etowah County election and was elected to the circuit judge seat (6 year term) with 62% of the vote. He was the first county-wide Republican to win since the Reconstruction.

Early prayer/Ten Commandments controversy

When Moore's tenure as circuit judge began, he brought his wooden Ten Commandments plaque with him, hanging it on the walls of his courtroom behind his bench. Moore told the Montgomery Advertiser that his intention in hanging the plaque was to fill up the bare space on the courtroom walls and to indicate the importance of the Ten Commandments. He states that it was not his intention to generate controversy; still, as he told the Atlantic, he understood that the potential for controversy was there, but "I wanted to establish the moral foundation of our law."

Soon after his appointment, when Moore presided over a case where two male strippers (known professionally as "Silk" and "Satin") were charged with murdering a drug addict, the attorney for the defendants objected to the display. This drew the attention of critics, who also objected to Moore's practice of opening court sessions with a prayer beseeching Divine Guidance for jurors in their deliberations. In at least one instance, Moore asked a clergyman to lead the court's jury pool in prayer. The local branch of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) sent a letter in June 1993 with the threat of a lawsuit if such prayers did not cease.

On June 20, 1994, the ACLU sent a representative to Moore's courtroom to observe and record the pre-session prayer. Though the organization did not immediately file suit, Moore decried the action as an "act of intimidation" in a post-trial press conference. The incident drew additional attention to Moore just as he was campaigning to hold onto his circuit court seat. In that year's election, Moore won the seat in a landslide victory over local attorney Keith Pitts, who had unsuccessfully prosecuted the "Silk and Satin" murder case.

Lawsuit

In March 1995, the ACLU filed a lawsuit against Moore, stating that the pre-session prayers and the Ten Commandments display were both unconstitutional. This original lawsuit was eventually dismissed for technical reasons, but Governor Fob James instructed state Attorney General Bill Pryor to file suit in Montgomery County in support of Moore. The case ended up before state Circuit Judge Charles Price, who in 1996 declared the prayers unconstitutional but initially allowed the Ten Commandments plaque to remain on the courtroom walls.

Immediately after the ruling, Moore held a press conference vowing to defy the ruling against pre-session prayers and affirming a religious intent in displaying the plaque. Critics responded by asking Price to reconsider his previous ruling, and the judge issued a new ruling requiring the Ten Commandments plaque to be removed in ten days. Moore appealed Price's decision and kept the plaque up; ten days later the Alabama Supreme Court issued a temporary stay against the ruling. The Court never ruled in the case, throwing it out for technical reasons in 1998.

On the day that the circuit court ruling was stayed, Moore appeared on the national morning program Today, praising the ruling and vowing to continue his practices. A poll released soon after found that 88 percent of Alabamians supported Moore. Though Moore was later investigated by the state Judicial Ethics Committee regarding the use of money raised by Coral Ridge Ministries in his defense, the investigation eventually ended with no charges being brought.

Chief Justice, Alabama Supreme Court

Campaign and election

In late 1999, the American Family Association began working to draft Moore into the race for Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court, when incumbent Republican Perry O. Hooper, Sr., of Montgomery announced that he would not seek reelection. Moore said that he was hesitant to make the statewide race because he had "absolutely no funds" and three other candidates, particularly Associate Justice Harold See, were well-financed.

Nevertheless, on December 7, 1999, Moore announced from his Etowah County courtroom that he would enter the race with hope of returning "God to our public life and restore the moral foundation of our law". His campaign, centered on religious issues, arguing that Christianity's declining influence "corresponded directly with school violence, homosexuality, and crime".

Associate Justice Harold See was the heavy favorite to win the Republican nomination because of his support from the state business community and the party hierarchy, including Chief Justice Hooper. However, as Moore made headway in state polls, See elicited the help of Republican strategist Karl Rove, advisor to Texas Governor and future President George W. Bush. Despite Rove's support and significantly more campaign funding, See lost the primary to Moore. Judge Moore also beat two other opponents, Criminal Appeals Judge Pam Baschab, and Jefferson County Presiding Circuit Judge Wayne Thorn, in the Republican Primary—without a runoff—garnering over 50% of the statewide primary vote. Judge Moore then easily defeated Democratic contender Sharon Yates in November's general election with over 60% of the vote. Judge Moore won his election to Chief Justice with just over $200,000, compared to the over $2 million spent by his opponents.

Moore was sworn in as Chief Justice on January 15, 2001. Republican former U.S. Representative James D. Martin, who had appointed Moore to West Point years earlier, was among the dignitaries in attendance. On taking the position, Moore said that he had "come to realize the real meaning of the First Amendment and its relationship to the God on whom the oath was based. My mind had been opened to the spiritual war occurring in our state and our nation that was slowly removing the knowledge of that relationship between God and law".

I pledged to support not only the U.S. Constitution, but the Alabama Constitution as well, which provided in its preamble that the state 'established justice' by 'invoking the favor and guidance of Almighty God.' The connection between God and our law could not be more clear ...

Ten Commandments monument controversy

File:Ten Commandments monument in Alabama.jpg

The Ten Commandments monument in the Alabama Supreme Court building, erected in 2001

Construction and installation

A month after his election, Moore began making plans for a larger monument to the Ten Commandments, reasoning that the Alabama Supreme Court building required something grander than a wooden plaque. His final design involved a 5,280 pound (2,400 kg) granite block, three feet wide by three feet deep by four feet tall, covered with quotes from the Declaration of Independence, the national anthem, and various founding fathers. The crowning element would be two large carved tablets inscribed with the Ten Commandments. High-grade granite from Vermont was ordered and shipped, and Moore found benefactors and a sculptor to complete the job.

On the evening of July 31, 2001, despite some initial installation difficulties and concerns regarding structural support for the monument's weight, Moore had the completed monument transported to the state judicial building and installed in the central rotunda. The installation was filmed, and videotapes of the event were sold by Coral Ridge Ministries, an evangelical media outlet in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, which later used proceeds from the sales of the film to underwrite Moore's ensuing legal expenses. Coral Ridge was the operation of the late Reverend D. James Kennedy, a staunch Moore supporter.

The next morning, Moore held a press conference in the central rotunda to officially unveil the monument. In a speech following the unveiling, Moore declared, "Today a cry has gone out across our land for the acknowledgment of that God upon whom this nation and our laws were founded... May this day mark the restoration of the moral foundation of law to our people and the return to the knowledge of God in our land."

Federal lawsuit

On October 30, 2001, the ACLU of Alabama, Americans United for Separation of Church and State and the Southern Poverty Law Center were among groups which filed suit in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama, asking that the monument be removed because it "sends a message to all who enter the State Judicial Building that the government encourages and endorses the practice of religion in general and Judeo-Christianity in particular".

The trial, titled Glassroth v. Moore, began on October 15, 2002. Evidence for the plaintiffs included testimony that lawyers of different religious beliefs had changed their work practices, including routinely avoiding visiting the court building to avoid passing by the monument, and testimony that the monument created a religious atmosphere, with many people using the area for prayer.

Moore argued that he would not remove the monument, as doing so would violate his oath of office:

[The monument] serves to remind the Appellate Courts and judges of the Circuit and District Court of this State and members of the bar who appear before them, as well as the people of Alabama who visit the Alabama Judicial Building, of the truth stated in the Preamble to the Alabama Constitution that in order to establish justice we must invoke 'the favor and guidance of almighty God'.

On this note, Moore said that the Ten Commandments are the "moral foundation" of U.S. law, stating that in order to restore this foundation, "we must first recognize the source from which all morality springs... [by] recogniz[ing] the sovereignty of God." He added that the addition of the monument to the state judiciary building marked "the beginning of the restoration of the moral foundation of law to our people" and "a return to the knowledge of God in our land".

Additionally, Moore acknowledged an explicit theistic intent in placing the monument, agreeing that the monument "reflects the sovereignty of God over the affairs of men" and "acknowledge[s] God's overruling power over the affairs of men". However, in Moore's view this did not violate the doctrine of separation of church and state; as the presiding judge later summarized it, Moore argued that "the Judeo-Christian God reigned over both the church and the state in this country, and that both owed allegiance to that God", although they must keep their affairs separate.

Judgment and appeal

On November 18, 2002, federal U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson issued his ruling declaring that the monument violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and was thus unconstitutional:

If all Chief Justice Moore had done were to emphasize the Ten Commandments' historical and educational importance... or their importance as a model code for good citizenship ... this court would have a much different case before it. But the Chief Justice did not limit himself to this; he went far, far beyond. He installed a two-and-a-half ton monument in the most prominent place in a government building, managed with dollars from all state taxpayers, with the specific purpose and effect of establishing a permanent recognition of the 'sovereignty of God,' the Judeo-Christian God, over all citizens in this country, regardless of each taxpaying citizen's individual personal beliefs or lack thereof. To this, the Establishment Clause says no."

Judge Thompson's decision mandated that Moore remove the monument from the state judicial building by January 3, 2003, but stayed this order on December 23, 2002, after Moore appealed the decision to the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals. This appeal was argued on June 4, 2003, before a three-judge panel in Atlanta, Georgia. On July 1, 2003, the panel issued a ruling upholding the lower court's decision, agreeing that "the monument fails two of Lemon's three prongs. It violates the Establishment Clause." Additionally, the court noted that different religious traditions assign different wordings of the Ten Commandments, meaning that "choosing which version of the Ten Commandments to display can have religious endorsement implications".

In response to the appeals court's decision, Judge Thompson lifted his earlier stay on August 5, 2003, requiring Moore to have the monument removed from public areas of the state judicial building by August 20.

Protests and monument removal

Rally before the Alabama State Capitol, August 16, 2003.

On August 14, Moore announced his intention to disobey Judge Thompson's order to have the monument removed. Two days later, large rallies in support of Moore and the Ten Commandments monument began forming in front of the judicial building, featuring speakers such as Alan Keyes, the Reverend Jerry Falwell, and Moore himself. The crowd peaked at an estimated count of 4,000 that day, and anywhere from several hundred to over a thousand protesters remained through the end of August.

The time limit for removal expired on August 20, with the monument still in place in the building's rotunda. As specified in Judge Thompson's order, the state of Alabama faced fines of $5,000 a day until the monument was removed. In response, the eight other members of the Alabama Supreme Court intervened on August 21, unanimously overruled Moore, and ordered the removal of the monument.

Moore said that Thompson, "fearing that I would not obey his order, decided to threaten other state officials and force them to remove the monument if I did not do so. A threat of heavy fines was his way of coercing obedience to that order," an action that Moore sees as a violation of the Eleventh Amendment to the United States Constitution.

On August 27, the monument was moved to a non-public side room in the judicial building. The monument was not immediately removed from the building for several reasons—pending legal hearings, the monument's weight, worries that the monument could break through the floor if it was taken outside intact, and a desire to avoid confrontation with protesters massed outside the structure. The monument was not actually removed from the state judicial building until July 19, 2004.

Removal from office

On August 22, 2003, two days after the deadline for the Ten Commandments monument's removal had passed, the Alabama Judicial Inquiry Commission (JIC) filed a complaint with the Alabama Court of the Judiciary (COJ), a panel of judges, lawyers and others appointed variously by judges, legal leaders, the governor and the lieutenant governor. The complaint effectively suspended Moore from the Chief Justice position pending a hearing by the COJ.

The COJ ethics hearing was held on November 12, 2003. Moore repeated his earlier sentiment that "to acknowledge God cannot be a violation of the Canons of Ethics. Without God there can be no ethics." He also acknowledged that he would repeat his defiance of the court order if given another opportunity to do so, and that if he returned to office, "I certainly wouldn't leave [the monument] in a closet, shrouded from the public." In closing arguments, the Assistant Attorney General said Moore's defiance, left unchecked, "undercuts the entire workings of the judicial system... What message does that send to the public, to other litigants? The message it sends is: If you don't like a court order, you don't have to follow it." Moore had previously stated his belief that the order was unlawful, and that compliance with such an order was not an enforceable mandate.

The next day, the COJ issued a unanimous opinion ruling that "Chief Justice Moore has violated the Alabama Canons of Judicial Ethics as alleged by the JIC in its complaint." The COJ had several disciplinary options, including censure or suspension without pay, but because Moore's responses had indicated he would defy any similar court orders in the future, the COJ concluded that "under these circumstances, there is no penalty short of removal from office that would resolve this issue." Moore was immediately removed from his post.

Moore appealed the COJ's ruling to the Supreme Court of Alabama on December 10, 2003. A special panel of retired judges and justices was randomly selected to hear the case. Moore argued that the COJ did not consider the underlying legality of the federal courts' order that the monument be removed from the courthouse. The Alabama Supreme Court rejected this argument, saying that the COJ did not have the authority to overrule the federal courts, only to determine whether Moore violated the Canons of Judicial Ethics. Therefore, the Court reasoned, it was enough to show that a procedurally-valid order was in place against Moore. Moore also argued that the COJ had imposed a religious test on him to hold his office, and that the COJ's actions had violated his own rights under the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment.

The Supreme Court of Alabama rejected each of these arguments as well, and ruled on April 30, 2004 that the COJ had acted properly. The court also upheld the sanction of removal as appropriate.

Return to the bench

In 2011, Moore initially considered a bid for the Presidency, but instead Moore chose to enter the race for Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court once again. He ran in the March 12, 2012 Republican Primary against two candidates. They were the sitting chief justice, Chuck Malone, who had been appointed to the office seven months earlier and former Democratic Attorney General Charles Graddick, who had become a Republican in 1994. Moore unexpectedly defeated both without a runoff (as he had done in 2000) despite being heavily outspent ($225,000 to $1.5 million).

Surprised Democrats had expected Chief Justice Malone to win and did not run a serious candidate and only had a perennial gadfly nominee. Democrats quickly disqualified him and hand-picked Jefferson County Circuit Judge Bob Vance as his replacement.

On November 6, 2012, Moore defeated Vance (who had outspent him). Vance raised and spent $1.8 million compared to Chief Justice Moore's $275,000 during the General Election.

In January 2012, the Montgomery Advertiser reported that the single-biggest donor to his campaign (having contributed $50,000 of the total $78,000 received by Moore until December 31, 2011) is Michael Peroutka, a longtime acquaintance of Moore's who is associated with organizations such as the Constitution Party and white supremacist group League of the South and is a frequent guest on The Political Cesspool. In response, Moore said he did not share the ideas of those organizations.

This was the second time that Moore had beat out his opponents in the Republican Primary without a runoff, along with Democratic challengers in the General Election, all of whom were significantly better funded.

Same-sex marriage

On January 28, 2015, the Southern Poverty Law Center filed a judicial ethics complaint against Moore, stating that he had publicly commented on pending same-sex marriage cases and encouraged state officials and judges to ignore federal court rulings overturning bans on same-sex marriage.

Moore issued an order to probate judges and their employees on February 8, the day before a federal court ruling legalizing same-sex marriage in Alabama was set to take effect, ordering them to disregard the ruling and enforce the state's ban under threat of legal action by the governor. On February 9, after the United States Supreme Court allowed the federal court ruling to take effect, probate judges in Birmingham, Montgomery, and Huntsville disobeyed Moore and issued marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

On January 6, 2016, after the U.S. Supreme Court issued its opinion in Obergefell v. Hodges the previous June, Moore issued an administrative order to lower court judges stating that "until further decision by the Alabama Supreme Court, the existing orders of the Alabama Supreme Court that Alabama probate judges have a ministerial duty not to issue any marriage license contrary to the Alabama Sanctity of Marriage Amendment or the Alabama Marriage Protection Act remain in full force and effect."

2016 charges in Alabama Court of the Judiciary

On May 6, 2016, the Alabama Judicial Inquiry Commission forwarded a list of six charges of ethical violations by Moore to the Alabama Court of the Judiciary. Moore was suspended from the Alabama Supreme Court pending trial and ruling. Moore faced removal from office over the charges, which were more serious than those which removed him from office in 2003.

The list of charges included:

1. Violation of the Alabama Canon of Judicial Ethics, for disregarding a federal injunction.
2. Violation of the Alabama Canon of Judicial Ethics, for demonstrated unwillingness to follow clear law.
3. Violation of the Alabama Canon of Judicial Ethics, for abuse of administrative authority.
4. Violation of the Alabama Canon of Judicial Ethics, for substituting his judgement for the judgement of the entire Alabama Supreme Court, including failure to abstain from public comment about a pending proceeding in his own court.
5. Violation of the Alabama Canon of Judicial Ethics, for interference with legal process and remedies in the United States District Court and/or Alabama Supreme Court related to proceedings in which Alabama probate judges were involved.
6. Violation of the Alabama Canon of Judicial Ethics, for failure to recuse himself from pending proceedings in the Alabama Supreme Court after making public comment and placing his impartiality into question.

Moore vs. Judicial Inquiry Commission (US District Court)

On May 27, Moore filed a federal lawsuit against the Alabama Judicial Inquiry Commission, alleging that his automatic suspension was unconstitutional. On August 4, the federal district court dismissed Moore's suit, ruling that under the abstention doctrine, federal courts generally do not interfere with ongoing state court proceedings.

JIC vs. Moore (Court of the Judiciary)

On June 22, Moore filed a motion to dismiss the JIC proceedings arguing, among other things, that the Alabama Judicial Inquiry Commission and the Alabama Court of the Judiciary did not have jurisdiction over review of Administrative Orders of the Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court, and that the JIC had failed to adhere to its own rules regarding confidentiality of the proceedings. Moore also continued to assert in his motion to dismiss that the orders of the Alabama Supreme Court were still in effect from the Alabama Policy Institute proceedings prohibiting the issuance of same-sex marriage licenses by probate judges in Alabama, despite the rulings in Obergefell v. Hodges issued by the US Supreme Court, Searcy v. Strange, Strawser v. Strange, and the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals which held that the orders were "abrogated" by Obergefell.

The Human Rights Campaign responded "It is clear that Roy Moore not only believes he is above the law, he believes he is above judicial ethics... Moore was tasked with upholding the law of the land when marriage equality was affirmed by the Supreme Court of the United States, and he defied that task, in the process harming loving, committed same-sex couples across Alabama for his own personal, discriminatory reasons. We remain optimistic that the sanctions against Moore will be upheld".

On June 27, the Court of the Judiciary issued on order setting a hearing date on Moore's Motion to Dismiss for August 8, and stated in their order that Moore's Motion to Dismiss would be treated as a Motion for Summary judgment pertaining to the charges filed by the JIC.

On July 15, the Judicial Inquiry Commission filed a response to Roy Moore's motion to dismiss asking the Court of the Judiciary to issue summary judgment removing Moore from the bench. Attorneys for the JIC wrote in their response "Because the chief justice has proven—and promised—that he will not change his behavior, he has left this Court with no choice but to remove him from office to preserve the integrity, independence, impartiality of Alabama's judiciary and the citizens who depend on it for justice".

On July 22, Alabama Court of the Judiciary member John V. Denson II recused himself from the proceedings, citing his prior involvement in the 2003 JIC case which removed Justice Roy Moore from the bench over the Ten Commandments Monument Controversy. Denson stated his reason for recusing himself was "to promote public confidence in the court and avoid the appearance of impropriety". On July 23, Chief Judge Michael Joiner of the Alabama Court of the Judiciary issued an order appointing Attorney W. N. "Rocky" Watson to replace John Denson on the Alabama Court of the Judiciary during the Moore case.

On July 26, attorneys for Liberty Counsel, who represent Roy Moore in the JIC proceedings, filed a reply to the JIC Motion for Summary Judgment denying that Chief Justice Roy Moore had directed Alabama's Probate Judges to disobey an injunction issued by the US District Court for the Middle District of Alabama. Moore's attorneys continued to assert that the orders of the Alabama Supreme Court, which required Alabama's probate judges to deny same sex couples marriage licenses, were still in effect, and that Moore's January 6 Administrative Order was mischaracterized by the JIC, despite the fact that Moore stated in his January 6 order, "... Until further decision by the Alabama Supreme Court, the existing orders of the Alabama Supreme Court that Alabama probate judges have a ministerial duty not to issue any marriage license contrary to the Alabama Sanctity of Marriage Amendment or the Alabama Marriage Protection Act remain in full force and effect."

On August 8, the Alabama Court of the Judiciary held a hearing on Moore's Motion to Dismiss and the JIC Motion for Summary Judgment related to the charges pending against Chief Justice Moore. Moore's attorneys continued to assert in their arguments that Justice Moore did not order probate judges to disobey an injunction issued by the US District Court, or to disobey the U.S. Supreme Court rulings regarding same-sex marriage. John Carroll, who represented the Alabama Judicial Inquiry Commission, responded that this defense argument "defies common sense" based upon Justice Moore's actions. Carroll argued that Moore was removed from office in 2003 for defying a federal court order and said Moore is again defying federal courts and their rulings supporting same-sex marriage, and should be immediately removed from office. The Alabama Court of the Judiciary subsequently denied both Justice Moore's motion for dismissal and the JIC motion for summary judgment and ordered the matter set for a trial scheduled for September 28, 2016 at 9:00 am in the Alabama Supreme Courtroom.

On September 30, 2016, Moore was found guilty of all six charges against him and suspended for the remainder of his term, slated to end in 2019. In its 50-page order, the Court of the Judiciary stated it did not find credible Moore's claim that the purpose for the Jan. 6 order was "merely to provide a 'status update' to the state's probate judges". He will not be paid for the remainder of his term, must pay court costs and the ruling effectively ends Moore's Supreme Court career, as he will not be eligible for reelection in 2018.

JIC vs. Moore Appeal to the Alabama Supreme Court

On October 3, 2016, Moore filed a Notice of Appeal with the Court of the Judiciary appealing his suspension and the final judgment to the Alabama Supreme Court, contending that neither the JIC nor the COJ had jurisdiction to investigate and punish Chief Justice Moore for issuing his Administrative Order of January 6, 2016. Moore contended that the JIC failed to prove any of its six charges with clear and convincing evidence, that the JIC violated its own rules and Alabama law by breaching confidentiality during its investigation, and that it prosecuted a charge (charge number 6) that was never included in a sworn complaint. Moore also contended that, by "suspending him" without pay for the remainder of his term, the COJ essentially removed him from office without unanimous agreement by the entire the COJ, as required under Alabama law. Pending the appeal, Moore refused to clean out his office.

On October 27, the Alabama Supreme Court randomly selected seven retired judges to review the appeal of Moore's suspension. On October 31, 2016, Robert Bentley, the Governor of Alabama, issued an executive order confirming the appointment of the seven retired justices to hear Moore's appeal from the decision of the COJ that suspended him from the bench for the remainder of his term.

On December 13, Moore filed his appeal brief with the special Alabama Supreme Court that had been appointed to hear his appeal. He argued, among other things, that the COJ did not have jurisdiction or authority to review administrative orders of the Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court, and that the JIC had failed to prove by convincing evidence that he violated the Canons of Judicial Conduct. Moore also argued that his suspension from the bench for the remainder of his term was de facto removal from office, which required unanimous agreement of the members of the COJ, and therefore was improper under Alabama law.

On December 14, eight current and retired Alabama Justices filed an amicus curiae brief in support of Moore, asserting in their filings that Moore's suspension was, in fact, a removal from office and contrary to Alabama law since it required unanimous agreement of the COJ, despite the fact the COJ did unanimously agree in their final judgment to suspend Moore for the remainder of his term.

On February 22, 2017, Moore filed a motion with the special Alabama Supreme Court, asking that it dispose of the appeal based on the merits contained in the parties' briefs and cancel oral argument set for April 2017. Moore's motion claimed he was suffering financially from the continued proceedings and the lengthy wait for scheduled oral arguments, as he was no longer being paid.

On March 6, the special Alabama Supreme Court hearing Justice Roy Moore's appeal granted his motion to cancel oral arguments originally scheduled for April and stated they would rule on the case based on the written briefs and motions submitted by the parties to the action. The order was signed by James Harvey Reid, Jr., Special Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice. Special Justices Harris Edward McFerrin, Robert George Cahill, William Reddoch King, Lynn Clardy Bright, Ralph Alton Ferguson, Jr., and John David Coggin entered a concurring opinion granting the motion to cancel oral arguments in April.

On April 20, the special Alabama Supreme Court upheld Moore's suspension. In its opinion, the special Alabama Supreme Court ruled that all of the Judicial Inquiry Commission charges against Moore were supported by clear and convincing evidence. Moore had argued that it required unanimous agreement of all the members of the JIC to remove a judge from the bench, but the special Alabama Supreme Court ruled that it did not have authority to rescind the sanctions imposed on Moore because the charges were amply supported by clear and convincing evidence, and that the JIC was unanimous in their decision to suspend Moore for the remainder of his term.

On April 26, 2017 Roy Moore resigned from the Alabama Supreme Court and announced he would be running for the United States Senate.

Columnist

Moore wrote weekly columns for the far-right website WorldNetDaily from 2006 to 2009.

Foundation for Moral Law

Moore founded the nonprofit Christian legal organization Foundation for Moral Law in 2002. Moore's wife, Kayla, is the president of the Foundation for Moral Law.

In 2005, Moore's Foundation for Moral Law accepted a $1,000 contribution from a neo-Nazi organization founded by Willis Carto, a prominent Holocaust denier. The donation attracted attention during Moore's 2017 campaign for a Senate seat.

Undisclosed salary payments

Moore publicly said that he did not draw a "regular salary" from the organization, yet in October 2017, The Washington Post found that Moore had arranged an annual salary of $180,000 for himself from the foundation. From 2007 to 2012, he collected more than $1 million; a number that far surpasses what the nonprofit declared in its public tax filings. Furthermore, The Washington Post found that Moore arranged the salary, and in 2012 when the charity could not pay his full salary, Moore got a note promising that he would get the salary in back pay or a stake in the assets of the foundation. The foundation also paid for Moore's health-care benefits, travel expenses, and bodyguard, and the foundation's website has regularly promoted Moore's speaking arrangements and book. Furthermore, the foundation employed Moore's wife and at least two of Moore's children. The Washington Post also noted that there was considerable overlap between the charity and Moore's political activities, with previous top officials of the charity leading Moore's 2017 Senate campaign and with the charity using the same fundraising firm as Moore's campaigns.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) warned the foundation about discrepancies in its tax filings in 2013, saying that the issues "could jeopardize your exempt status". A number of charity and tax law experts have said that the foundation's activities "raised questions about compliance with IRS rules, including prohibitions on the use of a charity for the private benefit or enrichment of an individual". Additional reporting by The Washington Post that October found that the $498,000 that Moore was guaranteed in back pay was not declared to the IRS; tax experts say that it should have been and that Moore would have had to pay more than $100,000 in federal tax.

Election issues and campaigns

2004

Moore considered running for the nomination of the Constitution Party in the 2004 presidential election. Despite encouragement from several corners, Moore did not pursue the nomination.

In 2004, along with Herb Titus, Moore was an original drafter of the Constitution Restoration Act which sought to remove federal courts' jurisdiction over a government official or entity's "acknowledgment of God as the sovereign source of law, liberty, or government", and provided for the impeachment of judges who failed to do so. The bill was introduced in both houses of Congress in 2004 and then reintroduced in 2005, but languished in committee both times.

2006

See also: Alabama gubernatorial election, 2006

On October 3, 2005, Moore announced that he would run against Governor Bob Riley in the 2006 Republican gubernatorial primary in Alabama. On the campaign trail, Moore referred to what he believed was the stand that the American founding fathers made for the biblical basis for law, including statements that he felt extolled the supremacy of God as the basis for successful government.

As with the 2000 Supreme Court election, Moore's opponent maintained steady advantages over the Moore campaign, including almost four times as much funding and the support of the state Republican establishment. However, intra-party politics proved trickier this time around. Moore accused the chair of the state's Republican Party of bias towards Riley and called on her to resign; he also criticized President Bush for his support of Riley in the race. His criticism of the state Republican machine was so harsh that he eventually had to call a press conference to quell rumors that he would run as an independent if he lost the Republican primary.

Despite Moore's predictions that his initial low polling numbers were inaccurate, Riley won the primary, 306,665 (66.6 percent) to 153,354 (33.34 percent). In his concession speech, Moore told supporters that "God's will has been done." Moore did not call Riley to concede and refused to support Riley in the general election because of Riley's acceptance of campaign contributions from political action committees. Despite losing the Republican primary Moore was endorsed as a write-in candidate in the general election by the Alabama Constitution Party.

2010

File:Roy Moore for Governor.jpg

Roy Moore campaign sign, 2010

See also: Alabama gubernatorial election, 2010

On June 1, 2009, Moore announced his campaign for the 2010 election for Governor of Alabama. On April 17, 2010, former NASCAR driver Bobby Allison endorsed Moore for governor. In the June 1, 2010 Republican primary election, Moore came in fourth place behind Bradley Byrne, Robert J. Bentley, and Tim James (son of former Governor Fob James). Moore garnered 19 percent of the vote, behind Tim James with 25.11 percent, Robert Bentley with 25.15 percent, and Bradley Byrne with 27.89 percent.

2012

On April 18, 2011, Moore announced that he was forming an exploratory committee to run in the Republican presidential primaries in 2012. When that campaign failed to gain traction, he began to draw speculation in the media as being a potential Constitution Party presidential contender. In November 2011, Moore withdrew his exploratory committee and ended all speculation of a presidential candidacy when he instead announced that he would in 2012 seek his former post of Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court. On November 6, 2012, Moore won election back to the office of Alabama Chief Justice, defeating replacement Democratic candidate Bob Vance.

2016

On May 6, 2016, Moore was again suspended by the state's Court of the Judiciary. On September 30, 2016. Moore was found guilty of all six charges against him and was suspended for the remainder of his term, which was to end in 2019.

2017 Senate special election in Alabama

Main article: United States Senate special election in Alabama, 2017

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Roy Moore campaign sign, 2017

On April 26, 2017, Moore, who had been suspended from the Alabama Supreme Court since September 2016, stated that he had submitted retirement papers and would resign as chief justice in order to run for the U.S. Senate seat vacated earlier by Jeff Sessions, who left the Senate to become U.S. Attorney General. Governor Robert Bentley appointed Luther Strange to fill the vacancy, and Strange also sought the Republican nomination in the special election.

Moore and Strange advanced to the primary runoff after Moore finished first with 38.87% of the vote to Strange's 32.83%. On September 26, 2017, Moore defeated Strange in Alabama's Republican primary runoff election.

Moore faces Democratic nominee Doug Jones, a former United States Attorney, in the special election on December 12, 2017. Moore has refused to debate Jones. Moore turned down debate invitations extended by the League of Women Voters and WHNT-TV and AL.com. Jones' campaign said that Jones was "willing to debate Roy Moore anytime, anywhere" and accused Moore of "hiding from the voters, from the media and from his record for weeks". Moore said that he refused to debate Jones because of Jones' "very liberal stance on transgenderism and transgenderism in the military and in bathrooms."

Campaign speech racial controversy

During a campaign speech in 2017, Moore decried racial divisions plaguing the United States, and stating: "Now we have blacks and whites fighting, reds and yellows fighting, Democrats and Republicans fighting, men and women fighting. What’s going to unite us? What’s going to bring us back together? A president? A Congress? No. It's going to be God." Moore's reference to "reds" and "yellows" was criticized as racially insensitive. Moore's campaign responded by stating that Moore's statement was a paraphrase of the children's Sunday School song "Jesus Loves the Little Children" and was an appeal for racial healing.

Alleged sexual encounters with teenagers

On November 9, 2017, The Washington Post outlined an account of a woman who said that Moore, 32 at the time, initiated a sexual encounter with her in 1979, when she was 14. The woman, as described in the article, alleged that there were two encounters at Moore's house, the first of which being a date where he "told her how pretty she was and kissed her". On a second date, Moore allegedly "took off her shirt and pants and removed his clothes ... touched her over her bra and underpants ... and guided her hand to touch him over his underwear". Three other women came forward to say that Moore, in his 30s, pursued relationships with them when they were 16 to 18 years old, with 16 being the legal age of consent in Alabama. These three women said that Moore did not force them into having a relationship or non-consensual sexual contact. Three of the four women also said that Moore served them alcohol; at the respective times they were all under 19, the legal drinking age in Alabama at that time. Moore has denied these allegations, calling them "completely false" and "a desperate political attack by the National Democratic Party and The Washington Post".

Several Republican leaders said that Moore should step aside if the allegations were true. Prominent Republicans such as John McCain and Mitt Romney called for Moore to drop out of the race after the allegations were reported. Republican U.S. Senators Mike Lee and Steve Daines withdrew their endorsements of Moore Senate candidacy. Alabama Republicans have largely defended Moore from these accusations. For example, Alabama state Auditor Jim Zeigler defended Moore's alleged actions on biblical grounds, and Alabama State representative Ed Henry advocated prosecuting the accusers criminally.

In an interview with Sean Hannity Moore denied knowing Leigh Corfman, though admitted to having dated “a lot of young ladies”, including Debbie Wesson Gibson who was 17 and Gloria Thacker Deason, who was 18. He denied providing them alcohol and added “I don’t remember ever dating any girl without the permission of her mother.”

Political positions

According to Business Insider, Moore has a "history of far-right and conspiracy-aligned positions" on issues such as homosexuality, race, Islam, and terrorism. According to CNN, Moore's "virulent anti-gay, right-wing views made him a national figure". According to The New York Times, Moore "is a staunch evangelical Christian, and his often-inflammatory political beliefs are informed by his strongly held religious views". Moore has been considered a "rising star of the alt-right movement" by The Jerusalem Post and an "alt-right hero" by The Washington Post.

Abortion

Moore is strongly anti-abortion. In a 2014 Supreme Court ruling, he said that laws should protect life "from the moment of conception".

American exceptionalism

Moore has been skeptical of modern American exceptionalism, saying that "America promotes a lot of bad things". Moore argued that the United States is an "Evil Empire" comparable to the Soviet Union, saying that America is the "the focus of evil in the modern world". When asked for a clarification, Moore gave an example of America culturally exporting acceptance of homosexuality around the world.

Alabama's Constitution

Moore was a strong opponent of a proposed amendment to the Alabama Constitution in 2004. Known as Amendment 2, the proposed legislation would have removed wording from the state constitution that referred to poll taxes and required separate schools for "white and colored children", a practice already outlawed due to civil rights-era legislation during the Civil Rights Movement. Moore and other opponents of the measure argued that the amendment's wording would have allowed federal judges to force the state to fund public school improvements with increased taxes. Voters in Alabama narrowly defeated the proposed amendment, with a margin of 1,850 votes out of 1.38 million cast. Moore's opposition has been cited as a reason for the failure of the referendum.

Attributing disasters to homosexuality, abortion and declining religiosity

In August 2017, Moore suggested that the September 11 attacks were a punishment by God for Americans' declining religiosity. Moore has also suggested that the Sandy Hook shooting, which killed 28 people (including 20 children), was "because we've forgotten the law of God". Moore has also said that suffering in the United States may be because "we legitimize sodomy" and "legitimize abortion". The Washington Post notes that "among the prices [Moore] says this country has paid for denying God’s supremacy: the high murder rate in Chicago, crime on the streets of Washington, child abuse, rape and sodomy".

Birther conspiracy theory

Moore was a leading voice in the anti-Obama birther movement, which promoted the debunked conspiracy theory that Obama is not a U.S. citizen. Moore does not believe that Barack Obama is a U.S. citizen. He has repeatedly promoted the conspiracy theory since 2008 and through at least December 2016. Asked if he still questioned Obama's citizenship in August 2017, the Moore campaign declined to answer questions from the media. As a justice on the Alabama Supreme Court, he opined that Alabama's Secretary of State should "investigate the qualifications of those candidates who appeared on the 2012 general-election ballot".

Moore has also suggested, without providing any evidence, that former President Obama is secretly a Muslim.

Church and state

In his debut column for WND.com, Moore argued that God is the "sovereign source of our law", echoing his language and reasoning used in the failed Constitution Restoration Act. Because of his focus on religion in politics, he has earned the nickname of 'Ayatollah of Alabama' by his critics.

In a January 2014 speech in Mississippi, Moore said that the Framers of the Declaration of Independence and the Founding Fathers attributed our rights to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" as coming from a specific God, stating "Buddha didn't create us, Mohammed didn't create us, it was the God of the Holy Scriptures." The speech prompted criticism because it appeared to suggest that non-Christians did not enjoy religious protections under the First Amendment. In a subsequent interview, Moore said that the First Amendment protects all faiths: "It applies to the rights God gave us to be free in our modes of thinking, and as far as religious liberty to all people, regardless of what they believe".

Confederacy

Neo-Confederate groups held events at the Foundation for Moral Law, a foundation led by Moore, in 2009 and 2010. The events "promoted a history of the Civil War sympathetic to the Confederate cause, in which the conflict is presented as one fought over the federal government violating the South's sovereignty as opposed to one fought chiefly over the preservation of slavery".

The foundation's then-executive director, Rich Hobson, now Moore's campaign manager, claimed in 2010 that Moore was unaware of these events and that it was Hobson who approved them. However, the organizer of the events thanked Moore for allowing them to hold the events in his building.

Education

In 2007, Moore opposed preschool, claiming that attendees are "much more likely to learn a liberal social and political philosophy" and that state involvement in early childhood education is characteristic of totalitarianism.

Evolution

Moore rejects the theory of evolution, saying "There is no such thing as evolution. That we came from a snake? No, I don’t believe that".

Free speech

In October 2017, Moore said that NFL players who protested police violence by kneeling during the playing of the national anthem were violating federal law. This assertion is incorrect; the United States Flag Code, which outlines proper conduct when the national anthem was played, is an advisory description of proper etiquette, not an enforceable law.

Free trade

When asked whether he approved of free trade, Moore stated that he supported protectionism. Moore has suggested pulling out of various free trade agreements, saying that he would rescind "unfair free trade agreements which have severely damaged our economy".

Immigration

In July 2017, Moore stated that he was unfamiliar with what the Dreamer program was. Later, in September 2017, Moore criticized Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), which grants temporary stay to unauthorized immigrants brought to the United States as children. In an interview with Breitbart News, Moore stated that he is supportive of the RAISE ACT, along with supporting a significant and immediate reduction in legal immigration, arguing that immigrants hurt native-born Americans.

LGBT rights

Moore has been described as holding "virulently anti-gay" beliefs. Moore is supportive of laws to make homosexuality illegal, and has argued that same-sex parents are unfit to raise children, that openly gay individuals should not be allowed to serve in government, and that the legitimization of various forms of "sodomy" may cause suffering in the United States. He believes that homosexuality goes against "the laws of nature" and stated it is comparable with bestiality.

In 1996, while presiding over a divorce case, Moore ruled that a mother who had had a lesbian affair would lose custody of her children to the father and that she could not be allowed see her children unless she was supervised. Moore wrote in his ruling, "The court strongly feels that the minor children will be detrimentally affected by the present lifestyle of [Mrs. Borden] who has engaged in a homosexual relationship during her marriage, forbidden both by the laws of the State of Alabama and the Laws of Nature." The Court of Civil Appeals removed Moore from the case, a decision that was later affirmed by the Alabama Supreme Court.

In February 2002, as Alabama Chief Justice, Moore issued a controversial opinion that expressed his belief that the State should use its powers to punish "homosexual behavior". The case, D.H. v. H.H., was a custody dispute where a lesbian was petitioning for custody of her children, alleging abuse by her ex-husband. A circuit court in Alabama had ruled in favor of the father, but the Alabama Court of Civil Appeals overturned that verdict 4–1, saying that substantial evidence existed of abusive behavior by the father. In a concurring opinion that he wrote while sitting on the Alabama Supreme Court, Moore stated that a parent's homosexuality should be a deciding factor in determining which parent gets custody over children: "Homosexual behavior is a ground for divorce, an act of sexual misconduct punishable as a crime in Alabama, a crime against nature, an inherent evil, and an act so heinous that it defies one's ability to describe it. That is enough under the law to allow a court to consider such activity harmful to a child."

In 2015, when asked if he believed that homosexuality should be punished by death, Moore answered, "I'm not here to outline any punishments for sodomy." Moore has appeared multiple times on a radio show hosted by a pastor who advocated for the view that homosexuals should be killed.

In 2016, Moore was suspended from the Alabama Supreme Court for instructing state probate judges to deny marriage licenses to same-sex couples, in contravention of Obergefell v. Hodges, in which the U.S. Supreme Court determined that same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marry.

In 2017, Moore called for impeaching judges who have issued rulings supportive of homosexuality and same-sex marriage. In November 2016, Moore argued that the Obergefell v. Hodges ruling which legalized same-sex marriage throughout the United States was worse than the 1857 Dred Scott v. Sandford ruling which declared that African-Americans whether enslaved or free, were property and could not be American citizens. The Dred Scott ruling is widely considered as the worst Supreme Court ruling.

In November 2017, Moore said that transgender people "don't have rights."

Opposition to Islam

Moore has called for banning Muslims from serving in Congress, described Islam as a "false religion" and made false claims about Sharia law in the United States. When asked by a reporter where in the United States that Sharia law was being practiced, Moore said "Well, there's Sharia law, as I understand it, in Illinois, Indiana — up there. I don't know." Asked if it was not an amazing claim for a Senate candidate to make, Moore said "Well, let me just put it this way — if they are, they are; if they're not, they're not."

In 2006, Moore wrote that Keith Ellison of Minnesota, the first Muslim to have been elected to the United States House of Representatives, should be barred from sitting in Congress because in his view, a Muslim could not honestly take the oath of office. Moore said that the Quran did not allow for religions other than Islam to exist, and added that "common sense alone dictates that in the midst of a war with Islamic terrorists we should not place someone in a position of great power who shares their doctrine."

Russia and Vladimir Putin

Moore has strongly praised Russian President Vladimir Putin, stating that he is maybe "more akin to me than I know [myself]". When asked whether he believed whether Russian interfered in the 2016 United States elections, Moore stated "Everybody else thinks it's the Russians. I think it was the providential hand of God."

Electoral history

United States Senate special election in Alabama, 2017

Republican primary
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Roy Moore	164,524	38.9%
	Republican	Luther Strange (incumbent)	138,971	32.8%
	Republican	Mo Brooks	83,287	19.7%
	Republican	Trip Pittman	29,124	6.9%
	Republican	Randy Brinson	2,978	0.6%
	Republican	Bryan Peeples	1,579	0.4%
	Republican	Mary Maxwell	1,543	0.4%
	Republican	James Beretta	1,078	0.3%
	Republican	Dom Gentile	303	0.1%
	Republican	Joseph Breault	252	0.1%
Total votes			423,282	100.0%

Republican primary runoff
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Roy Moore	262,204	54.6%
	Republican	Luther Strange (incumbent)	218,066	45.4%
Total votes			480,270	100.0%

General election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Doug Jones
	Republican	Roy Moore
	Write-in	Write-in
Total votes			'	'

External links

• Judge Roy Moore for Senate, Campaign website.
• Foundation For Moral Law, legal organization chaired by Moore.
• Column archive at WorldNetDaily
• Profile at Project Vote Smart
• Financial information (federal office) at the Federal Election Commission
• The Ten Commandments Case – archive of Montgomery Advertiser stories related to Roy Moore.
• Appearances on C-SPAN

Legal offices
Preceded by Perry Hooper	Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court 2001–2003	Succeeded by J. Gorman Houston Jr. Acting
Preceded by Chuck Malone	Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court 2013–2016	Succeeded by Lyn Stuart
Party political offices
Preceded by Jeff Sessions	Republican nominee for U.S. Senator from Alabama (Class 2) 2017	Most recent