Opinion ID: 1741615
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Judge Roy Moore

Text: Judge Moore principally relies on Marsh v. Chambers, 463 U.S. 783, 103 S.Ct. 3330, 77 L.Ed.2d 1019, in support of his practice of inviting members of the clergy to offer a prayer when the jury first assembles. He argues that his practice of opening jury sessions with clergy-led prayer and his practice of displaying a copy of the Ten Commandments on his courtroom wall do not violate the Constitution. As a preliminary matter, Judge Moore argues that those practices amount simply to a public acknowledgement of God, and he suggests that such public acknowledgements of God are common, citing, among other references to God, those appearing in the Pledge of Allegiance and on United States currency. He cites Holy Trinity Church v. United States, 143 U.S. 457, 12 S.Ct. 511, 36 L.Ed. 226 (1892), for the proposition that the Supreme Court has recognized that the United States is a Christian nation and for the proposition that the Constitution must be interpreted based on the original intent of the framers, which, he argues, the Supreme Court has held can be understood by looking to the actions of the First Congress. Harmelin v. Michigan, 501 U.S. 957, 111 S.Ct. 2680, 115 L.Ed.2d 836 (1991). Judge Moore contends that the First Congress would not have viewed the practices at issue in this case as violating the Establishment Clause, but that the Establishment Clause was adopted for the purpose of preventing the newly formed National Government from establishing a national denomination. Judge Moore, like the State, argues that Marsh controls this case and that the Lemon test should not be applied. He states that, although Lemon is not necessarily dead, it is increasingly ignored by the Supreme Court and by lower federal courts, noting that the Supreme Court has issued decisions involving the Establishment Clause in which the Lemon test was not applied. He argues that Lemon may still be one of four tests that may be used in these cases, but that Lemon has lost much of its importance in the debate over First Amendment freedoms. Judge Moore argues that, although Marsh concerned prayer at legislative meetings, it applies to judicial prayer as well. He notes that in its decision the Supreme Court specifically mentioned references to God in the cry used to open contemporary federal courts. Therefore, because it is a tradition to open court in Etowah County with prayer, Judge Moore argues that doing so is an acceptable practice under Marsh. Further, he asserts that the Court of Criminal Appeals, in Huff v. State, 596 So.2d 16 (Ala.Crim.App.1991), recognized the Marsh test as controlling on the issue of prayer in the courtroom. Judge Moore distinguishes Constangy on several grounds: (1) that, in Constangy, Judge Constangy led the prayers himself, whereas Judge Moore has members of the clergy do so; (2) that he presented more evidence than Judge Constangy did to indicate that offering an opening prayer is a long-standing custom; (3) that he has prayers only at the beginning of a jury session, not every day, as Judge Constangy did; and (4) that in his courtroom, it was traditional to invite clergy members from several different denominations in Etowah County to pray. Judge Moore also argues that the Ten Commandments played a large role in the development of American law, and, therefore, that this Court should apply the Marsh historical-precedent test and conclude that his display of the Ten Commandments is not constitutionally prohibited. Judge Moore finally argues that the Constitution forbids hostility toward religion. In support of that argument, he reviews Supreme Court decisions that have declined to take a rigid view of the Establishment Clause, e.g., Lynch v. Donnelly, 465 U.S. 668, 678, 104 S.Ct. 1355, 1361-62, 79 L.Ed.2d 604 (1984). He argues that any test that would excise all religious expression from public life is unconstitutional.