Two Tales of Alabama
Thursday, February 21, 2002; Page
A20
WHILE VONETTA Flowers was putting Alabama on the map with her gold medal victory in the inaugural women's Olympic bobsled competition, Chief Justice Roy Moore of Alabama's Supreme Court was back home taking the reputation of both his high judicial office and his state to a new low. The two couldn't be more different representatives of their state.
Ms. Flowers, along with teammate Jill Bakken, showed the world how two women with diverse sports backgrounds and, yes, of different races, could, with perseverance and teamwork, come from nowhere to rout a highly competitive field, earning a place in sports history. Chief Justice Moore, for his part, showed the world, in an astonishing courtroom display of hostility toward homosexuals, how prejudice and paranoia can shape and sway the mind of a powerful jurist and bring discredit upon a court.
Ms. Flowers, a track star at Jackson-Olin High School in Birmingham and a seven-time NCAA track and field all-American at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, said "people in Alabama laughed" when she told them she was taking up bobsledding. After all, what would someone who competed her whole life in the 100-meter dash and the long jump know about pushing and braking a bobsled down an icy hill? But Ms. Bakken, who did know something about driving a sleigh at breakneck speed around a snaking course -- having done it for eight years -- saw in Vonetta Flowers the partner she wanted and needed to claim the gold. Ms. Bakken and Ms. Flowers ended up on the podium in Park City, Utah, sobbing in victory.
Chief Justice Moore might make you cry too, but for a different reason. In a child custody opinion issued on Friday, he wrote that homosexuality was considered "abhorrent, immoral, detestable, a crime against nature and a violation of the laws of nature and of nature's God." Today, in contrast to the cheers greeting Ms. Flowers, Justice Moore is facing calls for his resignation. And with good reason. Justice Moore's display of blatant bigotry warrants his removal from the court. He went out of his way to put on display his animus against gay and lesbian citizens. The court unanimously ruled that primary custody of three children should be awarded to the father, rather than their lesbian mother. The other justices based their decision more on procedural issues than on the mother's sexual orientation and her abilities as a parent, reports the New York Times. That, however, wasn't good enough for Roy Moore. He found the need to launch into an essay about the "inherently evil" nature of homosexuality and how "presumptively unfit" gays and lesbians are to have custody of minor children.
Chief Justice Moore, unrepentant homophobe and reminder of Alabama's worst days, is unfit to serve. Vonetta Flowers represents the new face of Alabama and, one would hope, the state's future.
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MONTGOMERY, Alabama (AP) -- On the third anniversary of a gay Alabama man's murder, religious and social activists protested a recent state Supreme Court decision denying a gay parent custody of her child.
About 100 people gathered Tuesday at the State Capitol to hold a vigil for Billy Jack Gaither, killed in Sylacauga on February 19, 1999, by two men who claimed he made homosexual advances toward them. Gaither was beaten to death and his body was burned on a pile of kerosene-soaked tires.
This year's remembrance came the week after the unanimous decision by the Supreme Court that awarded custody of three teen-agers to their father over their gay mother. In the decision, Chief Justice Roy Moore wrote that the mother's homosexuality made her an unfit parent and that homosexuality is "abhorrent, immoral, detestable, a crime against nature, and a violation of the laws of nature."
Most of the speakers used Tuesday's rally to sound off on Moore's opinion.
"It's very irresponsible for a person in a position of power to use language that is so inciteful, and it will lead to more vigils like this one," said Ken Baker, chairman of Equality Begins at Home of Central Alabama.
Copyright 2002 The Associated Press. All rights reserved
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Chief Justice Moore, who was championed by the religious right as a lower court judge after he hung a copy of the Ten Commandments on his courtroom wall, argued in a concurring opinion that homosexuality was an "inherent evil against which children must be protected." He said homosexuals were "presumptively unfit to have custody of minor children under the established laws of this state."
The case concerned a custody battle between a father of three children and his former wife, a lesbian.
Two groups in Alabama that promote equal rights for gays, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance of Alabama and Equality Begins at Home of Central Alabama, asked Chief Justice Moore to leave the bench.
"He has shown there is no way he can fairly judge any cases involving gay and lesbian citizens of Alabama or their family and friends," Ken E. Baker, chairman of Equality Begins at Home, said in Montgomery.
The executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, Lorri L. Jean, said: "It is appalling to see that blatant bigotry and unrepentant ignorance reign supreme in Alabama's highest court. Chief Justice Moore has decreed that his personal religious beliefs will now be the law of the land in Alabama. This violates the constitutional mandate of separation of church and state, and it renders him unfit to serve as a judge."
State Representative, Alvin Holmes, Democrat of Montgomery, said he would ask the Alabama Judicial Inquiry Commission to examine Chief Justice Moore's opinion to see whether he should be removed. Mr. Holmes maintained that Chief Justice Moore had violated judicial canons that require a judge to "avoid conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice which brings the judicial office into disrepute" and to "not allow his family, social or other relationships to influence his judicial conduct or judgment."
A spokesman for Chief Justice Moore, who was elected in 2000, did not return a call for comment.
Chief Justice Moore wrote his opinion in concurrence with a 9-to-0 ruling by the Supreme Court that awarded primary physical custody of the children to their father over their lesbian mother. The decision, written by another justice, was based more on procedural issues than on the court's view of the mother's homosexuality and its relationship to her abilities as a parent. Indeed, the consensus opinion barely mentioned the mother's sexual orientation.
That made it all the more striking that Chief Justice Moore wrote a long and heavily footnoted essay about homosexuality and his view of its effects on children.
Mr. Baker said he considered the chief justice's words as an invitation to violence. He noted that Tuesday was the third anniversary of the beating death of Billy Jack Gaither, a gay Alabamian who was bludgeoned and burned by two men who confessed that they had been incited by Mr. Gaither's homosexuality.
"He knows the power of words like `inherently evil,' " Mr. Baker said of Chief Justice Moore. "All he didn't do was hand out the rope."
Copyright 2002 The New York Times Company
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AL Chief Justice Deems Homosexuality “An Inherent Evil”
Writing that homosexuality is “abhorrent,
immoral, detestable, a crime against nature, and a violation of the laws of
nature,” Chief Justice Roy Moore of the Alabama Supreme Court concurred with the
Court’s decision to deny a lesbian mother custody of her children. “The
homosexual conduct of a parent…creates a strong presumption of unfitness that
alone is sufficient justification for denying that parent custody of his or her
own children or prohibiting the adoption of the children of others,” said Moore.
While the panel decision focused on allegations of abuse in determining custody
of the three teenage children, Moore focused his comments solely on the
sexuality of the mother.
The Christian Coalition of Alabama praised
Moore’s comments, saying that Moore acted “to strengthen the family and defend
the institution of marriage.” David White, state coordinator for the Gay and
Lesbian Alliance of Alabama, however, said that Moore’s opinion showed that “He
cannot judge a gay person fairly and he should be removed from office.”
Moore is no stranger to controversy. Americans United for Separation of
Church and State, together with the American Civil Liberties Union, filed a
federal lawsuit against Moore for displaying a Ten Commandments monument in the
state’s judicial building. Americans United also question Moore’s judicial
ethics, as the Chief Justice allowed right wing TV evangelist D. James Kennedy
to film the installation of the two-ton Ten Commandments and sell that footage
for donations. Moore, according to Americans United, is also scheduled to appear
on a summer cruise sponsored by Kennedy to discuss “America’s Christian
Heritage.” Kennedy, head of the reactionary Coral Ridge Ministries and the
Center for Reclaiming America, is staunchly opposed to the separation between
church and state, which he calls “diabolical.” Kennedy has stated that he will
“reclaim America for Christ, whatever the cost.”
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February 18, 2002
Montgomery, AL: In denying a lesbian mother custody of her three daughters Alabama's chief justice used a litany of homophobic adjectives that has gay rights advocates calling for his removal from the bench.
Chief Justice Roy Moore wrote the decision for the nine member state supreme court. The lesbian mother had petitioned the high court for custody to take the children, aged 15, 17 and 18 to live with her and her partner in southern California.
The nine judges ruled unanimously in favour of her former husband, a Birmingham man. The names of the parents were withheld by the court.
Justice Moore wrote that homosexuality is "an inherent evil" that should not be tolerated.
His decision went on to say that the mother's relationship made her an unfit parent and that homosexuality is "abhorrent, immoral, detestable, a crime against nature, and a violation of the laws of nature."
His ruling quoted the Bible, historical documents, and earlier court rulings that he claimed backed his view.
The chief justice made headlines a year ago when he became chief justice and placed four foot high replicas of the Ten Commandments in the state judicial building.
As a district court judge, he fought to keep a plaque of the Biblical commandments in his courtroom and earned the nickname the "Ten Commandments judge".
Lawyers for the mother have not commented on the ruling.
David White of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance of Alabama, called Moore's comments shameful.
''It's obvious he cannot judge a gay person fairly, and he should be removed from office," White said.
Ken Baker, the chairperson for Equality Begins at Home, a group which fights for GLBT family rights, also called for Moore to be removed from the bench.
"All the citizens of Alabama deserve to be judged equally and fairly. Judge Roy Moore has shown that he is not capable of judging gay and lesbian citizens fairly and should resign immediately."
In a letter to Judge Moore, Baker wrote, "The remarks you have written in your opinion about the child custody case decided by the Alabama Supreme Court on Friday show that you cannot impartially judge cases involving gay and lesbian persons and that you do not believe that all men are created equally."
Baker also wrote, "I do not know the facts of this case and do not know who would make the better parent but I do know that the sexual orientation of one parent should not be the deciding factor."
He continued, "I believe that the inflammatory language that you are reported to have used is very irresponsible and will incite even more violence against gays and lesbians in Alabama."
Tuesday, marks the third anniversary of the brutal murder of Billy Jack Gaither, in rural Alabama. Gaither was beaten to death. His throat was cut, and his body was bludgeoned with an axe handle before being thrown on top of a pile of tires and set on fire.
Two men later admitted to killing because he "was queer."
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