February 22, 2002
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore broke judicial rules by labeling homosexuality an ''inherent evil,'' a gay rights group charged Thursday in seeking a state investigation of the judge.
The Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund said Moore's comments, made in a written opinion in a child-custody case, violated canons that require judges to be impartial.
The organization also charged that Moore -- he is best known for displaying the Ten Commandments in circuit court -- failed to uphold the integrity of the high court, and that his opinion had the appearance of impropriety.
Spokesman Scott Barnett said Moore had not seen the complaint, filed with the Judicial Inquiry Commission.
In an opinion released Friday, Moore wrote that a woman was an unfit mother because she was homosexual.
''Homosexual conduct is, and has been, considered abhorrent, immoral, detestable, a crime against nature, and a violation of the laws of nature and of nature's God upon which this nation and our laws are predicated,'' Moore said.
Lambda Legal said Moore's opinion, which referred to homosexuality as an ''inherent evil against which children must be protected,'' showed that he was prejudiced.
Officials with the Judicial Inquiry Commission, which has the power to charge judges with wrongdoing in office, declined comment.
Moore, a former circuit judge who was elected to the Supreme Court after posting a wooden plaque of the Ten Commandments in his court, defended his opinion as being based upon the common law.
Speaking with reporters at a budget hearing in Montgomery on Wednesday, Moore said the opinion did not mean he could not be fair when judging cases involving gays or lesbians.
''I treat all people fairly. I don't need to be removed. I was just going by the law,'' said Moore, a Republican.
Moore's opinion came in a case in which the Supreme Court ruled 9-0 in favor of a Birmingham man seeking custody of his three children over his former wife, a lesbian living in a domestic partnership.
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