Alabama Supreme Court demands JIC provide reason for keeping Moore case sealed

Wednesday, December 7, 2016, the Alabama Supreme Court has sent an order to the Judicial Inquiry Commission (JIC) giving them fourteen days to show cause as to why the Motion to Intervene and Unseal filed by The Alabama Political Reporter should not be granted.

The JIC sealed all the file on their case against Alabama Chief Justice Roy S. Moore (R). Normally cases are sealed to protect the privacy of the accused; but Chief Justice Moore has consistently stated that he wanted the case unsealed and made public.

On October 19th The Alabama Political Reporter in our role as a leader of the Alabama free press has filed a motion with the Alabama Supreme Court demanding that the case be unsealed so the public can see the details of the case. To this point the JIC has not provided us or the Supreme Court any rationale for their decision to keep this case sealed, even though the accused, Chief Justice Moore and his defense team, have made it clear that he wants it made public.

In September 30, 2016 the majority of the members of the Alabama Court of the Judiciary (COJ) found in favor of the JIC and ruled that Chief Justice Moore violated the canons of judicial ethics, when in January he refused to order the state’s probate judges to issue marriage licenses to same sex couples. The COJ suspended the Chief Justice for the remainder of his term. Moore’s defense team argues that the Chief Justice did not have the authority to order the probate judges to give homosexual couples marriage licenses, while the full state Supreme Court was still considering the issue.

Read more: http://www.alreporter.com/alabama-supreme-court-demands-jic-provide-reason-for-keeping-moore-case-sealed/