Alabama's chief justice has been suspended as officials investigate a complaint filed against him over his efforts to keep same-sex marriage illegal in the state despite the landmark Supreme Court ruling that made gay marriage legal across the country last year.
It's not the first time Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore has faced removal from the bench. In 2003, Moore was ousted after he refused to obey a federal court injunction that mandated he take down a display of the Ten Commandments, which he installed in the state judicial building.
He was voted back into office in 2012.
The Alabama Judicial Inquiry Commission filed ethics charges against Moore on Friday, saying he abused the power of his office and displayed disrespect for the judiciary. Moore, 69, has been automatically suspended from the bench until there is a resolution.
The latest investigation stems from an ethics complaint first filed by the Southern Poverty Law Center in January 2015 after Moore encouraged probate court judges to defy an order by a federal court judge in Mobile, Alabama, who ruled the state's ban on same-sex marriage was discriminatory.
Moore continued to fight against the legalization of same sex marriage, even after the U.S. Supreme Court found bans to be unconstitutional in June 2015.
In January, Moore issued an administrative order to the state's probate court judges in which he claimed the high court's decision only affected the states involved in the case, which did not include Alabama.
"Until further decision by the Alabama Supreme Court … Alabama probate judges have a ministerial duty not to issue," marriage licenses to same-sex couples, Moore wrote.
Richard Cohen, president of the SPLC, called Moore a "religious zealot, such an egomaniac that he thinks he doesn't have to follow federal court rulings he disagrees with," in a statement released Friday.
"Moore swore to uphold the United States Constitution. But he has demonstrated in the past, and now once again, that he is willing to put aside the law when it conflicts with his personal religious beliefs," Cohen said. "He cannot be trusted to be an impartial arbiter of the law."
Moore issued a statement Friday night saying he doesn't believe the commission has authority over administrative orders and state court injunction. Moore, as he did in a news conference last week about the complaints, referenced a recent protest outside his office by gay and transgender people.
"The JIC has chosen to listen to people like Ambrosia Starling, a professed transvestite, and other gay, lesbian and bisexual individuals, as well as organizations which support their agenda. We intend to fight this agenda vigorously and expect to prevail," Moore said.
Despite Moore's January order, most Alabama counties are issuing marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples. However, a few Alabama counties have shut down marriage license operations and are not issuing them to anyone, in order to avoid giving licenses to gay couples.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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