Roy Moore suspension about the rule of law
The United States has always been defined by a fundamental belief in the rule of law. Indeed, it's a cornerstone of our democracy, one that separates our nation from so many others.
More than 200 years ago, Alexander Hamilton wrote that a "sacred respect for the constitutional law is the vital principle, the sustaining energy of a free government." John Adams believed in the importance of a "government of laws, not of men," incorporating the phrase into the Massachusetts Constitution, which served as a prototype for the U.S. Constitution.
The Founding Fathers understood the dangers of governing by personal whim.
That's why it's so dismaying to see the state Republican Party rallying to Roy Moore's defense. Rather than accept the Alabama Court of the Judiciary's decision to suspend Moore from the office of chief justice, the party has attacked the very body that ensures the integrity of our courts.
The facts are beyond dispute: Moore attempted to put his personal religious beliefs above the rule of law. A federal court had ordered the state's probate judges to provide marriage licenses to same-sex couples on a nondiscriminatory basis. The U.S. Supreme Court had ruled, as a matter of constitutional law, that "same-sex couples may exercise the fundamental right to marry in all States." Yet, in defiance of these rulings, Moore ordered the state's probate judges to deny marriage licenses to same-sex couples. His actions were a clear violation of his oath of office and the canons of judicial ethics.
