Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore has been suspended from the bench for telling probate judges to defy federal orders regarding gay marriage.

It's the second time Moore has been removed from the chief justice job for defiance of federal courts - the first time in 2003 for refusing to remove a Ten Commandments monument from the state judicial building.

The Alabama Court of the Judiciary (COJ) issued the order Friday suspending Moore from the bench for the remainder of his term after an unanimous vote of the nine-member court.

"For these violations, Chief Justice Moore is hereby suspended from office without pay for the remainder of his term. This suspension is effective immediately," the order stated.

The court found him guilty of all six charges of violation of the canons of judicial ethics. Moore's term is to end in 2019, but because of his age, 69, he cannot run for the office again.

Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley will not have an appointment, said Yasamie R. August, press secretary for the governor. Justice Lyn Stuart will continue in the role of Acting Chief Justice and that court will continue with eight justices, she said.

The reason there won't be a replacement is because Moore was suspended, not removed from office, she said.

Moore is filing an appeal to the Alabama Supreme Court, his attorney said.

Moore issued this statement:

"This decision clearly reflects the corrupt nature of our political and legal system at the highest level.

After the Attorney General of Alabama declined to prosecute this case, the JIC employed the former legal director of the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) which filed the charges against me, at a cost of up to $75,000.00 to the taxpayers of Alabama.

During the trial which lasted approximately four hours, the JIC produced no witnesses, no affidavits, and no evidence to meet their burden of proving by "clear and convincing" evidence that the Administrative order of January 6, 2016 violated the Canons of Judicial Ethics.

This was a politically motivated effort by radical homosexual and transgender groups to remove me as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court because of outspoken opposition to their immoral agenda.

This opinion violates not only the legal standards of evidence but also the rule of law which states that no judge can be removed from office except by unanimous vote."

In its order, the COJ wanted to make sure people understood what Moore's case was and was not about.

"At the outset, this court emphasizes that this case is concerned only with alleged violations of the Canons of Judicial Ethics," the COJ states. "This case is not about whether same-sex marriage should be permitted: indeed, we recognize that a majority of voters in Alabama adopted a constitutional amendment in 2006 banning same-sex marriage, as did a majority of states over the last 15 years."

The COJ also stated it is also not a case to review or to editorialize about the United States Supreme Court's 5-4 split decision in June 2015 to declare same-sex marriage legal nationwide in the case of Obergefell v. Hodges.

Moore was tried Wednesday before the COJ on the charges that centered on a Jan. 6 administrative order to the state's 68 probate judges.

The canons of judicial ethics Moore was found guilty of violating are:

Canon 1, in that he failed to uphold the integrity and independence of the judiciary.

Canon 2, in that he failed to avoid impropriety and the appearance of impropriety in all his activities.

Canon 2A, in that he failed to respect and comply with the law and failed to conduct himself at all times in a manner that promotes public confidence in the integrity and impartiality of the judiciary.

Canon 2B, in that he failed to avoid conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice that brings the judicial office into disrepute.

Canon 3, in that he failed to perform the duties of his office impartially.

Canon 3A(6), in that he failed to abstain from public comment about a pending proceeding in his own court.

Prosecutors with the Judicial Inquiry Commission, which filed the charges, said Moore's order sought to have probate judges defy the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling that declared gay marriage legal nationwide and halt the issuance of marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Moore testified that it was only a "status report" to probate judges.

In its 50-page order on Friday, the COJ stated it did not find credible Moore's claim that the purpose for the Jan. 6 order was "merely to provide a 'status update' to the state's probate judges."

"We likewise do not accept Chief Justice Moore's repeated argument that the disclaimer in paragraph 10 of the January 6, 2016, order - in which Chief Justice Moore asserted he was 'not at liberty to provide any guidance ... of the effect of Obergefell on the existing orders of the Alabama Supreme Court' - negated the reality that Chief Justice More was in fact 'ordering and directing' the probate judges to comply with the API orders regardless of Obergefell or the injunction in Strawser (federal case in Alabama)."

Moore's attorney, Mat Staver, stated in a press release that the COJ couldn't agree on an outright removal of Moore from the bench so it decided to suspend him for the rest of his term.

"To suspend Chief Justice Moore for the rest of his term is the same as removal. The COJ lacked the unanimous votes to remove the Chief, so the majority instead chose to ignore the law and the rules," said Mat Staver, Founder and Chairman of Liberty Counsel.

The COJ decision states: "A majority of this court also agrees with the JIC that the only appropriate sanction for Chief Justice Moore is removal from office. Removal of a judge from office, however, requires 'the concurrence of all members sitting ... It is clear there was not a unanimous concurrence to remove the Chief from office, so the COJ suspends him for the remainder of his term. In other words, the COJ did what the rules say they cannot do. There is no meaningful difference between suspension for the remaining of the term and removal from office."

The nine-member Court of the Judiciary had several options - acquit Moore, remove him from the bench, suspend him without pay for as many months as it wished, or issue a statement of censure expressing disapproval. Removal from the bench required a unanimous decision and any of the other sanctions require a minimum 6-3 vote.

Other judges in the past have been suspended by the COJ for the remainder of their terms.

Richard Cohen, president of the Southern Poverty Law Center, which filed the original complaint against Moore that led to the JIC charges against the chief justice stated this moring that the COJ "has done the citizens of Alabama a great service by suspending Roy Moore from the bench."

"He (Moore) disgraced his office and undermined the integrity of the judiciary by putting his personal religious beliefs above his sworn duty to uphold the U.S. Constitution," Cohen stated. "Moore was elected to be a judge, not a preacher. It's something that he never seemed to understand. The people of Alabama who cherish the rule of law are not going to miss the Ayatollah of Alabama."

COJ says Moore had a similar defiance strategy in 2003

The COJ also stated that Moore's "arguments that his actions and words mean something other than what they clearly express is not a new strategy."

The COJ quoted from the court's order from 2003 removing Moore from the bench for defying the federal court order to remove the 10 Commandments from the courts building. That 2003 order quoted Moore as saying then that: "I did what I did because I upheld my oath. And that's what I did, so I have no apologies for it. I would do it again. I didn't say I would defy the court order. I said I wouldn't move the monument. And I didn't move the monument, which you can take as you will."

"Just as Chief Justice Moore's decision that he wouldn't 'move the monument" was, in fact, defiance of the federal court order binding him, a disinterested reasonable observer, fully informed of all the relevant facts, would conclude that the undeniable consequence of the January 6, 2016, order was to order and direct the probate judges to deny marriage licenses in direct defiance of the decision of the United States Supreme Court in Obergefell and the Strawser injunction."

Despite the 2003 removal Moore was re-elected to the chief justice job in 2012.

The current controversy arose in January 2015 after a federal judge in Mobile, Callie Granade, issued an order declaring unconstitutional Alabama's marriage laws, which prohibited same-sex marriage.

Moore, a staunch opponent of gay marriage, issued letters and orders to probate judges telling them not to issue the licenses in the days following Granade's order. Then on March 3, 2015 the Alabama Supreme Court issued an order telling the probate judges not to issue the licenses. Moore recused himself from that order.

The state supreme court's order was issued based on a petition filed by the Alabama Policy Institute (API) and other groups that opposed gay marriage.

Granade later ordered the probate judges to issue the licenses, but suspended her order until the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the Obergefell case. The U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) issued that ruling declaring same-sex marriage legal nationwide on June 26, 2015.

Days following the SCOTUS ruling the Alabama Supreme Court issued a request for parties in the API petition to submit briefs on how the SCOTUS decision affected its order to probate judges in the API case by July 6, 2015.

But the Alabama Supreme Court didn't rule immediately.

Moore granted interviews about the SCOTUS ruling declaring same-sex marriage legal and by fall had written two letters to his colleagues on the state supreme court asking them to issue an order either way in the API case.

Then on Jan. 6 Moore issued his administrative order telling judges that the state supreme court's from March 2015 order was still in place and they are still required to follow it. But he also included a line in it that he wasn't able to provide any guidance to the probate judges on the effect of Obergefell on the Alabama Supreme Court order.

The Southern Poverty Law Center filed several complaints against Moore in 2015 to the Judicial Inquiry Commission (JIC) regarding Moore's public comments about gay marriage and the orders and letters he filed.

The SPLC filed another one after Moore's Jan. 6 order. It was that last complaint that led the JIC to file the charges against Moore.

Moore testified Wednesday that the Jan. 6 order was just a status report to the probate judges and he wasn't ordering them to defy the federal courts. But at the end of the administrative order it states: "Until further decision by the Alabama Supreme Court, the existing orders of the Alabama Supreme Court that Alabama probate judges have a ministerial duty not to issue any marriage license contrary to the Alabama Sanctity of Marriage Amendment or the Alabama Marriage Protection Act remain in full force and effect."

Cohen, of the SPLC, said after Wednesday's trial that Moore had been playing "word games."</s>MONTGOMERY, Ala. -- Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore was suspended from the bench Friday for defying the U.S. Supreme Court on gay marriage, more than a decade after he was ousted for disobeying a federal order to take down a 2½-ton monument to the Ten Commandments.

The nine-member Alabama Court of the Judiciary suspended Moore without pay for the remainder of his term. While the court stopped short of outright removing him as they did in 2003, the punishment has the same effect, ending his rule as Alabama's top jurist. His term ends in 2019, and Moore, now 69, will be barred by law from running again at that time because of his age.

The judiciary court ruled that Moore defied law already clearly settled by the high court's Obergefell v. Hodges ruling when he told Alabama's 68 probate judges six months later that they were still bound by a 2015 state court order to deny marriage licenses to gay couples.

"Beyond question, at the time he issued the January 6, 2016, order, Chief Justice Roy Moore knew about Obergefell and its clear holding that the United States Constitution protects the right of same-sex couples to marry," the court wrote in the unanimous decision.

[INTERACTIVE MAP: History of gay marriage and the courts]

They said Moore also flouted a federal judge's order that enjoined the judges from enforcing Alabama's same-sex-marriage ban after the U.S. Supreme Court's decision.

The 50-page decision indicated that a majority of justices wanted to completely remove Moore -- not just suspend him without pay -- but they lacked unanimous agreement.

Moore said the decision violates the standards of evidence and the requirement of a unanimous vote to remove a judge, and his lawyer announced an appeal to the Alabama Supreme Court.

It "clearly reflects the corrupt nature of our political and legal system at our highest level," Moore said in a statement. "This was a politically motivated effort by radical homosexual and transgender groups to remove me as chief justice of the Supreme Court because of outspoken opposition to their immoral agenda."

In his 93-page order in January, Moore had condemned the gay-rights movement as leading to a "wasteland of sexual anarchy" and wrote, in the context of the U.S. Supreme Court decision, of the "duty to disregard illegal orders."

The fight over same-sex marriage in Alabama was already underway when the U.S. Supreme Court issued its decision. But Moore wrote that federal decision was not binding on Alabama directly. Without a final ruling by the Alabama Supreme Court, he said, the question was still open, and he informed the state's probate judges that they had a "ministerial duty" to refuse licenses to same-sex couples until a state-level decision was handed down.

Moore's punishment comes amid upheaval in all three branches of Alabama's government. The Republican speaker of the state House of Representatives was removed from office this summer for criminal ethics violations.

A legislative committee is weighing whether Gov. Robert Bentley should be impeached over a sex scandal involving a top aide.

The president of the civil-rights organization that filed the ethics complaint against Moore in 2003 and 2016 praised the decision as a victory for the state.

"Moore was elected to be a judge, not a preacher. It's something that he never seemed to understand," said Richard Cohen of the Southern Poverty Law Center. "My parting words are good riddance to the Ayatollah of Alabama."

"The rule of law should trump political agendas. Sadly, today that is not the case. What this decision tells us today is that Montgomery has a long way to go to weed out abuse of political power and restore the rule of law," said Staver, who also represented Kentucky clerk Kim Davis in her refusal to issue marriage licenses to gay couples.

Moore had already been suspended from the bench since May, when the state's Judicial Inquiry Commission accused him of violating judicial ethics.

By the end of his term in 2019, he'll be beyond the age limit of 70 for judges, unless voters raise the limit in November.

The Republican judge has long been a polarizing figure, known for conservative legal views that sometimes seem to mix with theology.

Soon after his first election as chief justice, he installed the boulder-sized Ten Commandments monument in the rotunda of the state judicial building.

Moore called the federal judge's order to remove it unlawful and said it infringed on his right to "acknowledge God."

Moore's stands have won him loyal followers and passionate critics. Supporters gave him a standing ovation as he entered the ornate courtroom to testify on Wednesday, while critics waved rainbow flags and signs outside saying "Y'all means All," and more simply, "Bye."

Testifying in his defense, Moore contended that his January order did not represent defiance, and that he merely intended to clarify that the Alabama Supreme Court still had to decide what to do with its earlier order upholding the state's gay-marriage ban in light of the Obergefell decision.

"I gave them a status in the case, a status of the facts that these orders exist. That is all I did," Moore testified.

But lawyers for the Judicial Inquiry Commission told the court that Moore -- who once referred to judicial rulings allowing gay marriage as "tyranny" -- had been on a mission to block gay marriage in Alabama.

"We are here 13 years later because the chief justice learned nothing from his first removal. He continues to defy the law," attorney John Carroll argued.

In the years after his first removal, Moore ran twice for governor, though he finished far behind in the Republican primaries.

He considered running for president in 2012 but decided instead to run again for chief justice.

His victory without a runoff in the 2012 Republican primary rattled the state's political establishment, and many high-profile Republicans openly supported the Democrat in the general election. He won with a slim majority.

What Moore will do next is a matter of speculation in Montgomery: Some say he may run for attorney general, others say governor. But most everyone agrees that he will remain in the public eye.

"The last time he was kicked off as chief justice, he ran for governor," said Jack Campbell, a Republican consultant and a former spokesman for the state Supreme Court. "I don't think he's done."

Information for this article was contributed by Kim Chandler of The Associated Press and by Campbell Robertson of The New York Times.</s>(CNN) Alabama's chief justice Roy Moore was suspended without pay Friday for the rest of his term for directing probate judges to enforce the state's ban on same-sex marriage.

The state Court of the Judiciary, in a 50-page decision, cited Moore's "disregard for binding federal law" as a reason for the suspension.

Moore's administrative order to probate judges was issued in January -- seven months after a landmark Supreme Court ruling legalized gay and lesbian nuptials nationwide.

Moore's term runs through January 2019. He is 69 and will be ineligible to run for re-election because of his age.

Friday's ruling also cited Moore's "history with this court," saying it was the second time he had been brought before the judiciary court for "actions grossly inconsistent with his duties as Chief Justice."

The chief justice made national headlines in 2003 when he defied a federal court order to remove a Ten Commandments monument from a public judicial building on the grounds that it was an unconstitutional endorsement of religion.

Both times, Moore's actions made him a hero to evangelicals, enraged liberals and caught the attention of the state judicial commission.

"The result in both instances has been a lengthy, costly proceeding for this court, the (Judicial Inquiry Commission), and, most unfortunately, the taxpayers of the State," the judiciary court ruling said.

Though Moore's defiance in 2003 cost him his job, he recaptured the top judicial post in a statewide election in 2012.

The Liberty Counsel -- a nonprofit legal and education organization that promotes religious freedom -- said in a statement that the suspension was "an unbelievable violation of the law" and "de facto removal from the bench."

"The rule of law should trump political agendas," said Mat Staver, Liberty Counsel chairman and one of Moore's attorneys.

"Sadly, today that is not the case," he said. "What this decision tells us today is that Montgomery has a long way to go to weed out abuse of political power and restore the rule of law."

Staver said Moore's administrative order directing probate judges to enforce the state ban on same-sex marriage "did not change the status quo."

"It did not create any new obligation or duty," he said in a statement. "To suspend Chief Justice Moore for the duration of his term is a miscarriage of justice and we will appeal this case to the Alabama Supreme Court. This case is far from over."

"Until further decision by the Alabama Supreme Court, the existing orders of the Alabama Supreme Court that Alabama probate judges have a ministerial duty not to issue any marriage license contrary to the Alabama Sanctity of Marriage Amendment or the Alabama Marriage Protection Act remain in full force and effect," Moore wrote at the time.

In February 2015, he ordered lower court judges in Alabama not to implement a federal court ruling that overturned the state's ban on same-sex marriage. He later disputed a federal court order that directed all probate judges to cease enforcement of Alabama's marriage ban.

Americans United for Separation of Church and State, a religious liberty watchdog group, on Friday praised the judiciary court ruling.

"The people of Alabama are better off without Roy Moore on the court," the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United, said in a statement. "He is an embarrassment to the state, and his antics long ago became tiresome."</s>Embattled Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore, top right, testifies during his ethics trial before the Alabama Court of the Judiciary at the Alabama Judicial Building in Montgomery, Ala., on Wednesday Sept. 28, 2016.

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore was removed from the bench Friday for defying the U.S. Supreme Court on gay marriage, more than a decade after he was ousted for disobeying a federal order to take down a 2 ½-ton monument to the Ten Commandments.

The nine-member Alabama Court of the Judiciary suspended Moore for the remainder of his term. Although the court stopped short of outright removing him as they did in 2003, the punishment has the same effect, ending his period as Alabama's top jurist.

The judiciary court ruled that Moore defied law already clearly settled by the high court's Obergefell vs. Hodges ruling when he told Alabama's probate judges six months later that they were still bound by a 2015 state court order to deny marriage licenses to gays and lesbians.

"Beyond question, at the time he issued the January 6, 2016, order, Chief Justice Roy Moore knew about Obergefell and its clear holding that the United States Constitution protects the right of same-sex couples to marry," the court wrote in the unanimous decision.

They said Moore also flouted a federal judge's order that enjoined the judges from enforcing Alabama's same-sex marriage ban after the U.S. Supreme Court's decision.

The 50-page decision indicated that a majority of justices wanted to completely remove Moore, not just suspend him without pay, but they lacked unanimous agreement.

Moore told The Associated Press in a telephone interview that he was shocked by the decision.

"I think it's clear it was politically motivated," he said.

In a separate statement, Moore called his removal "a politically motivated effort by radical homosexual and transgender groups to remove me as chief justice of the Supreme Court because of outspoken opposition to their immoral agenda."

With Moore's punishment, leaders of two of Alabama's three branches of government have been removed for ethics violations this year, and a third is possible. The Republican House speaker was removed this summer. A legislative committee is weighing whether Gov. Robert Bentley should be impeached over a scandal involving a top aide.

The president of the civil rights organization that filed complaints against Moore in 2003 and 2016 praised the decision as a victory for the state.

"Moore was elected to be a judge, not a preacher. It's something that he never seemed to understand," said Richard Cohen, of the Southern Poverty Law Center.

"My parting words are good riddance to the Ayatollah of Alabama," Cohen said.

Moore's attorney, Mat Staver of Liberty Counsel, called it a "miscarriage of justice" and said they will appeal to the Alabama Supreme Court.

"The rule of law should trump political agendas. Sadly, today that is not the case. What this decision tells us today is that Montgomery has a long way to go to weed out abuse of political power and restore the rule of law," said Staver, who also represented Kentucky clerk Kim Davis in her refusal to issue marriage licenses to gay couples.

Moore, 69, had already been suspended from the bench since May, when the state's Judicial Inquiry Commission accused him of violating judicial ethics. By the end of his term in 2019, he'll be beyond the age limit of 70 for judges, unless voters raise the limit in November.

The Republican judge has long been a polarizing figure, known for conservative legal views that sometimes seem to mix with theology.

Soon after his first election as chief justice, he installed the boulder-sized Ten Commandments monument in the rotunda of the state judicial building. Moore called the federal judge's order to remove it unlawful and said it infringed on his right to "acknowledge God."

Moore's stands have won him loyal followers and passionate critics. Supporters gave him a standing ovation as he entered the ornate courtroom to testify on Wednesday, while critics waved rainbow flags and signs outside saying "Y'all means All," and more simply, "Bye."

Testifying in his defense, Moore contended that his January order merely intended to clarify that the Alabama Supreme Court still had to decide what to do with its earlier order upholding the state's gay marriage ban in light of the Obergefell decision.

"All of told them was the order was still in effect," Moore said Friday, adding that he "didn't tell them to disobey" the federal injunction against Alabama's same-sex marriage ban.

But lawyers for the Judicial Inquiry Commission told the court that Moore — who once referred to judicial rulings allowing gay marriage as "tyranny" — had been on a mission to block gay marriage in Alabama.

"The Chief Justice learned nothing from his first removal. He continues to defy the law," attorney John Carroll argued.</s>Chief Justice Roy Moore had gone on trial Wednesday on charges that he violated Alabama's canons of judicial ethics with a Jan. 6 order that said probate judges were bound by state law banning gay marriage.

The Alabama Court of the Judiciary suspended Moore, effective immediately, without pay for the remainder of his term, saying in a ruling that it had found "clear and convincing evidence" of ethical violations.

Moore's attorney said in a statement that he planned to appeal the decision to the Alabama Supreme Court.

The judiciary court's decision said Moore's Jan. 6 order to the probate judges showed "disregard for binding federal law."

This followed the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark June 2015 decision giving gay and lesbian couples the right to marry in all 50 states.

The chief justice, an outspoken opponent of same-sex unions, has insisted there was uncertainty among the state's probate judges after conflicting opinions on gay marriage from state and federal courts.

"To suspend Chief Justice Moore for the duration of his term is a miscarriage of justice and we will appeal this case to the Alabama Supreme Court. This case is far from over," said Mat Staver, founder of Liberty Counsel, which is representing Moore, in a statement.

The ruling also noted Moore's history with the state's judiciary court. In 2003, Moore was removed from the bench for defying a federal order to take down a Ten Commandments Monument he had installed in the state's judicial building. Voters re-elected him as chief justice in 2012.

The charges against him came after a series of ethics complaints filed by the Southern Poverty Law Center, which has said Moore should be removed from office.</s>MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Alabama judicial court suspends chief justice Roy Moore for rest of term over his defiance of gay marriage.</s>Embattled Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore testifies during his ethics trial before the Alabama Court of the Judiciary at the Alabama Judicial Building in Montgomery, Ala., on Wednesday Sept. 28, 2016. (Mickey Welsh/Montgomery Advertiser via AP)

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore was removed from the bench Friday for defying the U.S. Supreme Court on gay marriage, more than a decade after he got in trouble for refusing federal orders to move a Ten Commandments monument.

By suspending Moore for the rest of his term, the nine-member Alabama Court of the Judiciary has effectively removed him from office for the second time.

The outspoken Christian conservative was ousted from office in 2013 for his stand in defense of the 2 ½ ton monument he had installed in the state judicial building, but voters later re-elected him.

The judiciary court ruled that Moore defied law already clearly settled by the high court's Obergefell vs. Hodges ruling when he told Alabama's probate judges six months later that they were still bound by a 2015 state court order to deny marriage licenses to gays and lesbians.

"Beyond question, at the time he issued the January 6, 2016 order, Chief Justice Roy Moore knew about Obergefell and its clear holding that the United States Constitution protects the right of same-sex couples to marry," the court wrote in the unanimous decision.

They said Moore also flouted a federal judge's order that enjoined the judges from enforcing Alabama's same sex marriage ban after the U.S. Supreme Court's decision.

The 50-page decision indicated that a majority of justices wanted to completely remove Moore — not just suspend him without pay — but they didn't have the unanimous agreement. The effect, though, is the same. Moore is off the bench.

Moore's punishment comes as all three branches of Alabama's government face upheaval. The Republican speaker of the state House of Representatives was removed from office this summer for criminal ethics violations. A legislative committee is weighing whether Gov. Robert Bentley should be impeached over a scandal involving a top aide.

The president of the civil rights organization that filed the ethics complaint against Moore praised the decision as a victory for the state.

"Moore was elected to be a judge, not a preacher. It's something that he never seemed to understand. The people of Alabama who cherish the rule of law are not going to miss the Ayatollah of Alabama," said Richard Cohen, of the Southern Poverty Law Center.

A lawyer for Moore called the decision a "miscarriage of justice" and announced an appeal to the Alabama Supreme Court.

"The rule of law should trump political agendas. Sadly, today that is not the case. What this decision tells us today is that Montgomery has a long way to go to weed out abuse of political power and restore the rule of law," said attorney Mat Staver, who also represented Kentucky clerk Kim Davis in her refusal to issue marriage licenses to gay couples.

Moore, 69, had already been suspended from the bench since May, when the state's Judicial Inquiry Commission accused him of violating judicial ethics. By the end of his term in 2019, he'll be beyond the age limit of 70 for judges, unless voters raise the limit in November.

Testifying under oath Wednesday, Moore said he was simply noting a fact — that the Alabama Supreme Court's order affirming the state's marriage ban had not been lifted.

"I gave them a status in the case, a status of the facts that these orders exist. That is all I did," Moore testified.

But lawyers for the Judicial Inquiry Commission told the court that Moore — who once referred to judicial rulings allowing gay marriage as "tyranny" — had been on a mission to block gay marriage from coming to Alabama.

"We are here 13 years later because the Chief Justice learned nothing from his first removal. He continues to defy the law," argued John Carroll, a lawyer representing the commission.</s>MONTGOMERY, Ala. — The Latest on Chief Justice Roy Moore's removal from Alabama Supreme Court bench over gay marriage (all times local):

Roy Moore has issued a statement after being permanently suspended as Alabama chief justice for ethics violations.

Moore is calling his punishment Friday by Alabama's Court of the Judiciary the result of a "politically motivated effort by radical homosexual and transgender groups," who targeted him because of what he calls his "outspoken opposition to their immoral agenda."

Moore was found to have defied the U.S. Supreme Court ruling legalizing gay marriage nationwide.

Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore was removed from the bench Friday for defying the U.S. Supreme Court on gay marriage, more than a decade after he got in trouble for refusing federal orders to move a Ten Commandments monument.

By suspending Moore for the rest of his term, the nine-member Alabama Court of the Judiciary has effectively removed him from office for the second time.

The outspoken Christian conservative was ousted from office in 2013 for his stand in of the 2 ton monument he had installed in the state judicial building, but voters later re-elected him.

The judiciary court ruled that Moore defied law already clearly settled by the high court's Obergefell vs. Hodges ruling when he told Alabama's probate judges six months later that they were still bound by a 2015 state court order to deny marriage licenses to gays and lesbians.</s>Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore will be suspended from the rest of his term on the Alabama Supreme Court for urging his state to defy court rulings in favor of same-sex marriage, the Alabama judicial court ruled Friday.

In a 50-page decision, the nine-member Alabama Court of the Judiciary unanimously determined, among other things, Moore “failed to uphold the integrity and independence of the judiciary” and “failed to abstain from public comment about a pending proceeding in his own court.” The panel suspended Moore from the bench without pay effective immediately.

“Based upon the clear and convincing evidence of Chief Justice Moore’s violations of the Canon of Judicial Ethics, his disregard for binding federal law exhibited in the January 4, 2016, order, and his history with this court, it is the unanimous judgment of this court that Chief Justice Moore should be suspended without pay for the remainder of his term,” the decision says.

In May, the Alabama Judicial Inquiry Commission filed a complaint with the Alabama Court of the Judiciary against Moore for violating judicial ethics by ordering the state to ignore federal court rulings in favor of same-sex marriage. Those actions, the commission maintained, undermined the principle of federal supremacy over the states in U.S. government.

After U.S. District Judge Callie V. Granade ruled Alabama’s ban on same-sex marriage was unconstitutional in 2015, Moore wrote a letter to probate judges instructing them to ignore the decision and continue denying marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

Later, the Alabama Supreme Court, in a decision from which Moore recused himself, ruled Alabama’s ban on same-sex marriage remains in effect despite federal court decisions. In response, Granade joined as a class all plaintiffs in Alabama who couldn’t obtain same-sex marriage licenses, then enjoined probate judges from refusing marriage licenses to them. The federal court stayed its ruling until a decision from the U.S. Supreme Court on the issue nationwide.

After the U.S. Supreme Court in favor of same-sex marriage nationwide a few months later, Moore’s position didn’t change. In a Jan. 6 letter, Moore wrote probate judges “have a ministerial duty not to issue any marriage license contrary to the Alabama Sanctity of Marriage Amendment or the Alabama Marriage Protection Act” until further decision from the Alabama Supreme Court. The state high court later dismissed all pending motions in a related lawsuit.

“We find that, when coupled with the intentional omission of binding federal authority, the clear purpose of the Jan. 6, 2016, order was to order and direct the probate judges — most of whom have never been admitted to practice law in Alabama — to stop complying with binding federal law until the Alabama Supreme Court decided what effect that federal law would have,” the Alabama Court of the Judiciary writes.

Richard Cohen, president of the Southern Poverty Law Center, said the Alabama Court of the Judiciary did “the citizens of Alabama a great service” by suspending Moore.

“He disgraced his office and undermined the integrity of the judiciary by putting his personal religious beliefs above his sworn duty to uphold the U.S. Constitution,” Cohen said. “Moore was elected to be a judge, not a preacher. It’s something that he never seemed to understand. The people of Alabama who cherish the rule of law are not going to miss the Ayatollah of Alabama.”

It’s the second time Moore has been dismissed from the Alabama Supreme Court for violating judicial ethics. In 2003, Moore was removed from the bench for refusing to remove a monument to the Ten Commandments despite an order from the Alabama Judicial Building. In 2012, Moore won election back to the office of Alabama Chief Justice.

Moore’s term was set to expire in 2018. Unlike last time, he’ll be unable to run again for the office of Supreme Court justice because after that time he’ll be past the office’s age restriction.

Eva Kendrick, state manager for the Human Rights Campaign, Alabama, said Moore brought the fate upon himself for “using his position of power to push a personal, radically anti-LGBTQ agenda.”

“We are thrilled that justice has been done today and he will no longer be able to use the bench to discriminate against people he had taken an oath to to protect,” Kendrick said. “Roy Moore’s bigoted rhetoric and unethical actions harmed LGBTQ Alabamians and emboldened those who would seek to hurt us further. We hope this is a turning point for our state. We must focus on electing politicians and judges who will move us forward, not backward.”

Alabama is one of the places in the United States where same-sex couples still aren’t assured a marriage license more than one year after the Obergefell decision. Twelve of the state’s 67 counties have stopped issuing marriage licenses altogether. It remains to be seen whether Moore’s suspension will have an impact on the issuing of these licenses.</s>MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore's defiance of federal court rulings on gay marriage violated judicial ethics, a disciplinary court ruled on Friday before suspending him for the rest of his term.

The punishment effectively removes Moore from office without the nine-member Alabama Court of the Judiciary officially ousting him. Given his age, he will not be able to run for chief justice again under state law.

Moore was found to have encouraged probate judges to deny marriage licenses to gay couples six months after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that everyone has a fundamental right to marry in all 50 states.

Moore vehemently denied that his administrative order was an act of defiance and said his personal beliefs had nothing to do with it.

The same panel removed the outspoken Republican in 2003 because he refused to remove a Ten Commandments monument from the state judicial building. Voters later re-elected him as chief justice after he lost a race for governor.

This time, Moore sent an administrative order to the state's 68 probate judges, maintaining that the Alabama Supreme Court's gay marriage ban remained in "full force and effect" despite the ruling from the nation's highest court.

Moore testified that his personal beliefs had nothing to do with it, and that his January order merely provided judges with a status report on a technical aspect of the law.

Moore, 69, had already been suspended from the bench since May, when the state's Judicial Inquiry Commission accused him of violating judicial ethics. By the end of his term in 2019, he'll be beyond the age limit of 70 for judges, unless voters raise the limit in November.
The Alabama Court of the Judiciary finds Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore guilty of six charges of violation of canon of judicial ethics and suspends him for the remainder of his term which is slated to end in 2019. The judge told other judges to ignore the Supreme Court of the United States ruling on gay marriage (Obergefell v. Hodges).