Roy Moore

Alabama Supreme Court Justice Roy Moore

The lawyer representing suspended Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore said Thursday that the state commission that filed ethics charges against Moore has hired the former legal director of the Southern Poverty Law Center, the same group that filed the complaints.

"In a brazen move, the Judicial Inquiry Commission (JIC) of the State of Alabama has hired John Carroll, a former Legal Director of the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), to prosecute its politically motivated charges against (Moore)," according to a press release from Liberty Counsel, the legal group representing Moore.

"I have almost no words for this corrupt and unjust system," Mat Staver, Founder and Chairman of Liberty Counsel, which represents Chief Justice Moore, stated in the press release.

Carroll declined comment this morning regarding the Liberty Counsel Statement. He referred any comment to the JIC.

Rosa Davis, an attorney for the JIC confirmed that she and Carroll have filed a notice of appearance as co-prosecutors in the Roy Moore case.

Davis noted that Carroll left the SPLC in 1984, 32 years ago, but declined comment on the case.

Staver, in the press release, state that "we have said that the charges are politically motivated and that the JIC violated its own rules of confidentiality. You would think that the JIC would be astute enough to at least avoid an appearance of bias, but obvious the JIC does not care. This is a brazen act that calls into question the entire JIC process."

Carroll is a professor and former dean of the Cumberland School of Law in Birmingham. Carroll also served as interim director of the Alabama Ethics Commission prior to the current ethics commission director.

Prior to coming to the law school, he served 14 years as a U.S. Magistrate Judge based in Montgomery. He also is a former professor at Mercer University. Before that, he was legal director of the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Prior to his legal career Carroll served in the U.S. Marine Corps in Vietnam as a flight officer on over 200 combat missions.

On May 6 the Alabama Judicial Inquiry Commission forwarded charges to the Alabama Court of the Judiciary, accusing the chief justice of violating judicial ethics in his opposition to same-sex marriage.

Moore had 30 days in which to respond the charges, but had not as of Thursday morning. A date for Moore's trial on the charges has not been set.

The charges focus on Moore's Administrative Order issued in January of this year in which he wrote that the 2015 orders of the Alabama Supreme Court telling probate judges not to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples still remained in effect - despite the U.S. Supreme Court ruling - until that court further indicates otherwise.

"The travesty of the politically motivated charges by the JIC against Chief Justice Roy Moore have become even clearer with the appointment by the JIC of a former Legal Director of the same organization that filed the charges. This is a miscarriage of justice of the highest sort," Staver stated.

Liberty Counsel describes itself as an international nonprofit, litigation, education, and policy organization dedicated to advancing religious freedom, the sanctity of life, and the family since 1989, by providing pro bono assistance and representation on these and related topics.

The Southern Poverty Law Center describes itself as being dedicated to fighting hate and bigotry and to seeking justice for the most vulnerable members of our society. Using litigation, education, and other forms of advocacy, the Center works toward the day when the ideals of equal justice and equal opportunity will be a reality.