About 30 supporters of keeping the Ten Commandments monument at the judicial building in Montgomery pray during an overnight vigil early Wednesday.
MONTGOMERY, Ala., Aug. 20 — The Supreme Court refused Wednesday to block the removal of a Ten Commandments monument from an Alabama judicial building, rejecting a last-minute appeal from the judge who installed the display. The justices said they would not be drawn, at least for now, into a dispute over whether the monument violates the Constitution’s ban on government promotion of religion.
THE HIGH COURT was Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore’s last hope to avoid a federal judge’s midnight deadline to remove the display. It was unclear if Moore would comply. Other state officials have said the monument would be removed.
Moore’s lawyers told justices in a filing that Moore should be allowed to “establish justice by acknowledging the guidance and favor of Almighty God, placed upon him by his oath of office and the Constitution of Alabama.”