MONTGOMERY, Ala., Nov. 12 (UPI) -- Alabama's chief justice faced a special judicial court Wednesday on charges that could lead to his removal from the bench.
Chief Justice Roy Moore was suspended in August for refusing to remove a monument of the Ten Commandments he had installed in the rotunda of the State Supreme Court building.
The New York Times said Moore is accused of six ethical breaches, including failing to uphold the integrity of the judiciary and bringing "the judicial office into disrepute."
Alabama Attorney General, Bill Pryor, who once supported Moore, Wednesday urged the chief justice be removed from the bench "based on his flagrant and totally unrepentant behavior."
In a written brief, Pryor said, "The chief justice has never expressed remorse for the devastating impact of his actions on our judicial system -- far from it."
Moore's lawyers argued he should not be punished for disobeying what they characterized as "an unlawful order," and they likened his position to the military code of justice, which does not punish soldiers for disobeying orders that are unlawful or improper.
