Roy Moore on bench.JPG

Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore in court March 6, 2013. (Bob Gathany / bgathany@al.com)

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The Southern Poverty Law Center has filed a judicial ethics complaint against Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore because of Moore's statements he intends to uphold the state's ban on same-sex marriage.

Moore made that assertion in a letter to Gov. Robert Bentley on Tuesday.

The letter was in response to the decision by U.S. District Judge Callie V.S. "Ginny" Granade striking down Alabama's Sanctity of Marriage Amendment, which was approved by voters in 2006.

Granade issued a stay on her order that is due to expire Feb. 9.

In Moore's letter, he advised probate judges not to issue licenses for same-sex marriages, saying to do so would be in defiance of state law.

"It is difficult to imagine a more patent and undeniable violation of the prohibition against public comment on 'impending' cases than for the sitting Chief Justice to advise an entire class of judges on how they must rule on what likely will be hundreds of license applications to be filed in just two short weeks," the SPLC complaint says.

The SPLC filed the complaint with the Judicial Inquiry Commission.

The complaint accuses Moore of violating these Alabama Canons of Judicial Ethics.

-- Improper public comment on pending and impending proceedings.

-- Lack of faithfulness to the law and failure of professional competence.

-- Disrespect for the dignity of the judiciary and undermining public confidence in the integrity of the judiciary.

In 2002, the SPLC was one of the groups that sued on behalf of plaintiffs challenging the constitutionality of a Ten Commandments monument that Moore placed in the state judicial building.

U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson ruled the monument was an unconstitutional endorsement of religion by the state and ordered Moore to remove it. The U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the ruling.

After Moore refused to remove the monument, the SPLC filed a complaint with the Judicial Inquiry Commission. The Alabama Court of the Judiciary removed Moore from office.

"For the sake of all Alabamians who believe in the rule of law, we hope that the result is the same this time," SPLC President Richard Cohen said today. "The people of Alabama elected Moore to be a judge, not to be their priest."

Moore was elected chief justice again in 2012.