Roy Moore To Represent Pastor In Lockdown Defiance

The Baton Rouge Advocate reports:

Roy Moore, the former Alabama Supreme Court chief justice and two-time U.S. Senate candidate, will serve as an adviser for a Central pastor, and his church, during expected litigation over the religious leader’s defiance of state orders limiting public gatherings to control the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Moore and the Rev. Tony Spell said Moore would represent Spell and the church, though it isn’t clear yet in what capacity. Moore is a licensed lawyer in Alabama but isn’t licensed to practice law in Louisiana.

Spell, pastor of Life Tabernacle Church in Central, was cited and arrested Tuesday with six misdemeanor counts of violating Gov. John Bel Edwards’ order to limit the size of public gatherings. Hours later, he returned to the pulpit at his Hooper Road church.

Spell held services on Tuesday night hours after being charged for defying the lockdown. In an interview with the local press, he taunted the police, saying, “You can’t arrest thousands of us.”