Monument must go

last updated 8 January 2015

Montgomery, Ala.

A federal judge this week ordered Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore to remove a monument to the Ten Commandments from his courthouse. Moore wheeled the 5,280-pound chunk of granite into the building last year and plunked it down in the lobby. “The monument represents the moral foundation of law, which is greatly needed in our country today,” he said in court. The display has attracted pilgrims, some of whom have dropped to pray in front of it. Lawyer Stephen Glassroth said the statue violated the constitutional ban on states’ meddling in religion, and he sued. Judge Myron Thompson sided with the critic, saying the monument’s sole purpose was to “proselytize on behalf of a particular religion, the chief justice’s religion.”