Suspended Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore has asked that four of his colleagues be prevented from hearing the appeal of his conviction on judicial ethics charges.

In his motion to the Alabama Supreme Court on Monday, Moore asks that four justices on the current Alabama Supreme Court, plus three former justices who heard a May petition regarding the Judicial Inquiry Commission (JIC) be recused from his appeal.

It's unclear what Moore was asking in that May petition to his colleagues.

Three of the current justices presided over that prior petition regarding the JIC, according to a statement from Moore's lawyer, Mat Staver, founder and chairman of the legal group Liberty Counsel,

The names of three of the current Supreme Court justices being asked to recuse themselves and the three former justices are named in a sealed document, Staver stated.

But he did name the fourth current justice they sought to recuse -- Greg Shaw. Shaw did not preside over Moore's prior JIC petition, Staver said.

But Shaw has commented unfavorably regarding Moore's Jan. 6, 2016 administrative order to probate judges on the issuance of same-sex marriage license.

It's that order that was the center piece of the judicial ethics charges brought by the JIC against Moore. The JIC argued that Moore was asking state probate judges to defy federal court orders stating that same-sex marriage is legal. Moore argued the order was just an update on earlier orders issued by the Alabama Supreme Court prior to the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling.

The Alabama Court of the Judiciary agreed with the JIC and suspended Moore without pay for the remainder of his term, which ends January 2019.

Justice Shaw's comments came in March (2016) when justices dismissed a case from 2015 from which the justices ordered probate judges to stop issuing same-sex marriage licenses. That 2015 order came prior to the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that same-sex marriage was legal nationwide. But Moore's administrative order came more than six months after the U.S. Supreme Court ruling.

In Shaw's opinion agreeing that the former case brought by the anti- same-sex marriage group the Alabama Policy Institute should be dismissed, he mentioned Moore's January administrative order to probate judges and also appeared critical of Moore.

"If a judge finds that he or she cannot abide by a controlling decision of a higher court, then that judge should resign from office," Shaw stated. "He or she should not indulge in the pretense that rebelling against a superior court's decision is an accepted judicial response."

The Alabama Supreme Court, while dismissing the API case, however, didn't specifically rescind its 2015 order to probate judges.

In the motion to recuse, Moore also requests that replacement justices be selected by a random and publicly observable drawing from a pool of sitting circuit judges.

"The Chief Justice wants to have a fair and objective panel of nine judges to review his appeal," Staver stated in a press release. "Anyone who has sat on any prior proceedings involving this case and anyone who has a conflict of interest should recuse and not preside over this appeal. Chief Justice Moore is asking for a fair and transparent process."

When Moore appealed his 2003 ouster as chief justice, it was appealed to a specially appointed 7-member supreme court. That court unanimously refused his appeal. Moore then appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which in 2004 refused to reinstate him.

Moore retirement and benefits

Since the suspension ends with his term in January 2019, it effectively prevents Moore from ever seeking another judicial term. He could consider other political offices but may not be able to run or raise money under Alabama law unless he first resigns from the chief justice job.

Section 150 of Article 6 of the Alabama Constitution states that justices of the supreme court or other judges "shall receive no fees or perquisites, nor hold any office, except judicial offices, of profit or trust under this state or the United States, or any other government, during the term for which they have been elected or appointed."

Moore has not said publicly what he will do.

"Moore is currently focused on his appeal," Holly Meade, Director of Communications for Liberty Counsel, stated in an email.

Moore will get his retirement, but won't be able to draw while he is suspended without pay, according to Staver and an official with the Retirement Systems of Alabama.

Bill Kelley, director of benefits for the Employee's Retirement Systems of Alabama, said that Moore won't be able to accrue more time for his retirement during the more than two years Moore on unpaid suspension.

But at the end of that period - or earlier of if Moore resigns - he would still be eligible to collect his retirement, Kelley said. The retirement would be 75 percent of the annual salary Moore had when he was suspended, which was about $181,000.

Moore had already accrued enough time on the Alabama Supreme Court between his shortened chief justice term in 2003 and the more than three years he has served on his current term.

When Moore was removed from the high court in 2003, he could only collect 75 percent retirement, based on his service as a circuit court judge in Etowah County, Kelley said. Moore had been removed as chief justice for refusing a federal court order to remove the Ten Commandments monument he had placed in the state courts building.

Staver said that Moore does not continue to get health benefits or any other benefits while on suspension.

Moore doesn't maintain any duties and has not been allowed on the third floor of the state judicial building where the offices of the Alabama Supreme Court are located since he was automatically suspended when the JIC filed the charges, Staver stated.

Moore's staff has been assigned to work for other justices as the ninth seat on the court remains vacant, Staver said. Because Moore is on suspension and wasn't removed from office, the state can't fill the vacancy.

"Again, this is unprecedented and we are still working through the process since he is suspended without pay (not removed)," Staver stated in the email to AL.com. "

"He is still under the judicial canons, meaning he cannot engage in outside work," Staver stated. "Thus, the COJ has created a horrible situation for the chief - suspending him without pay or insurance and yet preventing him from working to pay bills and eat."

"This is what happens when the COJ violated the clear law that prevents removal without nine votes and when they instead create something that does not exist - removal without calling it removal," Staver stated.

Petition

Meanwhile, Liberty Counsel has put up a petition of support on its website for Moore.

It reads:

Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore is being wrongfully vilified for his stand for natural marriage, the Constitution, and the rule of law by radical organizations like the Southern Poverty Law Center, People for the American Way, and other pro-LGBTQ organizations.

I am joining with tens of thousands of other patriots in standing with Chief Justice Moore against this politically motivated, anti-faith attack and join my fellow concerned citizens in calling for him to be immediately reinstated!

The petition went up on Liberty Counsel's website last week, Staver said.

"It is a petition for people to express their support to Chief Justice Moore and will go to him," Staver said. "I do not know how many have signed it, but I have no doubt there will be tens of thousands of people who will sign it."