A federal judge on Thursday dismissed a
lawsuit filed by Suspended Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy
Moore.
Moore filed a federal lawsuit against
the Judicial Inquiry Commission (JIC) after it filed charges against
him in May over an administrative order he issued in which he
directed probate judges not to issue marriage licenses to gay and
lesbian couples. Moore's order came months after the Supreme Court
found that gay couples have a constitutional right to marry and a
federal judge had struck down Alabama's marriage ban as
unconstitutional.
In his lawsuit, Moore challenged the
law requiring automatic suspension of judges who face ethics charges
from the JIC, as Moore is.
U.S. District Court Judge W. Harold
Albritton dismissed the case, saying in his 19-page opinion that
federal courts should not interfere with current state court
proceedings.
“[Moore] has chosen not to allow the
state courts to determine his federal constitutional challenges, but
instead to ask this federal court to act,” Arbritton said. “This
court, out of respect for the state court's proceeding for
determining discipline of the state's elected judges, in the manner
provided by the state's own constitution, declines to do so.”
(Related: Roy
Moore hands over incomplete gay marriage memos.)