ALABAMA: Court Orders Trial For Justice Roy Moore

A very late update from AL.com:

Suspended Alabama Supreme Court Justice Roy Moore will go on trial next month on judicial ethics charges after the Alabama Court of the Judiciary late Monday issued an order that denied Moore’s request to dismiss the charges.

The court, in a brief one-page order, also denied a motion by the Alabama Judicial Inquiry Commission that sought an order removing Moore from the bench without a trial.

The Alabama Court of the Judiciary (COJ) met Monday afternoon for a hearing to consider a motion by Moore to dismiss the judicial ethics charges against him regarding a same-sex marriage administrative order he issued to probate judges in January.

Michael Joiner, chief judge of the court of the judiciary, had said at the end of the hearing that depending on how the COJ ruled on the motions, a full-fledged trial may be held on the charges Sept. 28. The attorneys for both the JIC and Moore told Joiner they don’t see a trial going beyond a day.

After the hearing [Liberty Counsel head Mat] Staver told a crowd of Moore supporters on the steps of the judicial building that the charges are “politically motivated.” He questioned why the JIC wants to remove Moore from the bench while the JIC on Monday had agreed to only a six months suspension for Tallapoosa Probate Judge Leon Archer for sexting with a litigant.

Speaking to his supporters after the hearing earlier today, Roy Moore bitched that the lead prosecutor was once the legal director of the SPLC. Should he be booted from the bench, most expect Moore to run for governor in 2018. According to a poll issued last week, Moore leads the list of prospective candidates.