MONTGOMERY, Ala. — The former top Alabama judge known for refusing to remove a Ten Commandments monument from the state courthouse said Tuesday that he's seeking to regain his old job as chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court.
Eight years after Roy Moore was removed from the post because of the monument dispute, he announced that he would run for the position again at a news conference on the steps of the Alabama Judicial Building in Montgomery. The 64-year-old Republican addressed the dispute in his remarks to the media and a couple dozen supporters.
"I have no plans to move the monument to Montgomery," he said, but added that he will continue to acknowledge God.
Current Chief Justice Chuck Malone and Charlie Graddick, a former attorney general who's now a circuit judge in Mobile, are already running in the Republican primary on March 13. No Democrat has announced.
Moore said he does not believe that getting in the race after the other two GOP candidates will hurt him, adding he has strong name recognition and voters know his judicial philosophy is conservative.
"There is no question that I know this job," Moore said. "And I believe the people of Alabama know exactly what I stand for."
Since getting kicked out as chief justice, Moore has made two runs for governor. He lost the 2006 Republican primary to incumbent Bob Riley and finished fourth in the GOP primary 2010. In the spring, he formed an exploratory committee to consider a Republican run for president, but dropped it because he couldn't generate the money needed to seriously consider a campaign.
William Stewart, political science professor emeritus at the University of Alabama, said Moore continues to be popular with some voters but it's hard for any politician to maintain the level of popularity he reached eight years ago.
Pointing to Moore's two failed bids for governor, he said candidates lose credibility with voters when they run and lose.
"He runs the risk of being a perennial candidate," said Stewart, considered a leading authority on Alabama politics.
Moore could hurt Graddick, according to Stewart, who said the two might split more conservative GOP voters. Stewart said some voters also might wonder if Moore would again defy the federal courts if he disagreed with a ruling.
In a prepared statement, Graddick welcomed Moore to the race and noted his own experience as a judge and prosecutor. He said wants to keep "the courts fully functional in order to put away convicted criminals and protect honest people has to be the top priority."
"Our message of experienced ability, tough fairness, cutting waste, cutting high-dollar lawyers and cutting out expensive resort-style judicial gatherings is resonating with voters in every corner of Alabama," he said."
Angi Smith, campaign manager for Malone, said he is proud of his record since Gov. Robert Bentley appointed him earlier this year, such as rescinding an order limiting the number of jury trials and instituting "fiscally conservative budgeting principles." Smith said Malone's message of "justice, fairness and fiscal responsibility" has resonated statewide.
"His No. 1 goal is adequate funding for the courts without raising taxes," said Smith, noting Malone is working with legislative leaders and the Bentley administration to address the budget crunch.
Moore pointed to his experience as chief justice, including keeping the courts open despite significant budget cuts. He also said the court under his leadership effectively outlawed gambling machines in Alabama and ended an occupational tax in Montgomery County.
Moore said the court stopped a long-running school equity funding lawsuit. "It was wrong, completely wrong," Moore said of a lower court ruling in that lawsuit. "It was the courts trying to take over the legislative functions."
Republican Gov. Guy Hunt appointed Moore in 1992 to a vacant circuit judgeship in Gadsden. He attracted national attention in a legal battle with the American Civil Liberties Union over his practice of opening court sessions with prayer and displaying a homemade plaque of the Ten Commandments in his courtroom.
After being elected chief justice in 2000, he had a 5,280-pound granite monument of the Ten Commandments installed in the lobby of the state judicial building. That set off more legal battles, which he lost. A trial court for judges removed him in 2003 over his refusal to abide by a federal judge's order to remove the display.
Moore said the fight was not about the piece of granite, which now sits at a church and school in Gadsden, or the words on it.
"It was never about the Ten Commandments," he said. "It was about the one who gave the Ten Commandments."