The attorney representing Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore in a judicial inquiry is speaking out on behalf of his client. Even some more liberal attorneys are siding with the justice based on the law.
Moore issued an order in January banning same-sex marriage in Alabama after the U.S. Supreme Court legalized the practice last year.
The Alabama Judicial Inquiry Commission filed ethics charges against Moore, claiming he abused his power and disrespected the judiciary.
Moore's attorney is Mat Staver, the founder of the legal group, Liberty Counsel. According to AL.com, Staver says federal appeals and district courts have interpreted the U.S. Supreme Court's same-sex marriage ruling in the same way that Moore has -- that the decision only affected the few states involved in the cases that were presented before the high court.
Staver adds that the Supreme Court ruling has to be considered in each state on a case by case basis, and in the meantime, the state laws banning same-sex marriage are still in effect.
According to WVTM13.com, the Alabama Supreme Court and the Alabama ACLU have supported Chief Justice Moore on his administrative orders to probate judges not to issue same-sex marriage licenses.
Staver says even if that legal view is not correct, the JIC has no right to interpret law, AL.com reports.
"This is a legal issue," Staver said. He went on to say that it "puts all judges at risk" if the JIC can lodge a complaint to have a judge removed because the commission is opposed to a legal interpretation.
"The Judicial Inquiry Commission has no authority over the Administrative Orders of the Chief Justice of Alabama or the legal injunction of the Alabama Supreme Court prohibiting judges from issuing same-sex marriage licenses," Moore said in a statement.
Moore opposes same-sex marriage on the basis of his Christian faith.
More than a decade ago, the justice said his faith was the reason he did not obey a federal judge's order to remove a Ten Commandments monument from Alabama's main judicial building.
Moore has been automatically suspended from the bench and faces discipline or permanent removal if he is found guilty. Staver says he believes the Alabama Court of the Judiciary will hold a hearing on the charges early this summer, AL.com reports.
Moore has 30 days to respond to the charges involving gay marriage.
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