n what is described as a "smug," "brazen" and secretive move, Alabama Supreme Court Justice Roy Moore has ordered stealth placement of a 5,280-pound monument to the Ten Commandments in the rotunda of the state's Judicial Building.

   Moore, who for years has been embroiled in controversy for his strident views and efforts to promote religious displays on public property, told reporters that as head of the state's court system and "leaseholder" on the government facility, he had every right to order the placement of the Decalogue, which is constructed out of Vermont granite.

   "The monument serves to remind the appellate courts and judges of the circuit and district courts of this state and members of the bar who appear before them as well as the people of Alabama who visit the Alabama Judicial Building of the truth stated in the preamble of the Alabama Constitution that in order to establish justice we must invoke 'the favor and guidance of Almighty God,' " Moore said.

   "He's way off the mark," said attorney Larry Darby, Alabama State Director for American Atheists. "He should remember Section 3 of the State Constitution which declares: 'That no religion shall be established by law; that no preference shall be given by law to any religious sect, society, denomination, or mode of worship; that no one shall be compelled by law to attend any place of worship; nor to pay any tithes, taxes or other rate for building or repairing any place of worship, or for maintaining any minister or ministry; that no religious test shall be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under this state; and that the civil rights, privileges, and capacities of any citizen shall not be in any manner affected by his religious principles.' "

   Darby told AANEWS that he hopes to launch a suit to challenge Moore's unconstitutional display of the Commandments, either as litigating attorney or a plaintiff.

   While Moore had hinted that he would install such a monument if elected to the state's highest judicial post last November, there was no announcement that the 2-1/2 ton rock would be suddenly be gracing the courts building. An editorial in the Mobile Registere newspaper criticized the "stealth placement" of the Commandments, and noted that Justice Moore "exhibited a brazen smugness unmatched since he refused to remove a hand-carved tablet of the Ten Commandments from his Etowah County Circuit Court."

   Indeed, for years Moore displayed the Decalogue plaque above his dais in the county courtroom he presided over. He also ordered judicial proceedings to begin with a religious invocation, usually conducted by a local Baptist minister. When members of the Alabama Freethought Association sued to have the Commandments display removed, Moore quickly became a hero for the religious right, complete with appearances on Pat Robertson's "700 Club" television program and support from other big name televangelists including D. James Kennedy. Then-Governor Fob James hopped on the Moore bandwagon, comparing the "wall of separation" between church and state to the Berlin Wall of the cold war era. In April, 1997, supporters of Moore and James organized a huge rally on the steps of the state capitol building in Montgomery. Attendees chanted "Tear down the wall! Tear down the wall," while James thundered: "Behind this judicial wall of separation there is a tyranny of lies that will fall... I say to you, my friends, let it fall!"

   The groups supporting Moore read like a "who's who" of the religious right. Along with Robertson and Kennedy were Robertson's legal arm, Christian Coalition, Concerned Women for America, American Family Association, Alabama Family Alliance (linked to values guru James Dobson of Focus on the Family), and the Eagle Forum. Kennedy's Coral Ridge Ministries raised over $100,000 for Moore's defense. In one fund raising letter, the group warned supporters: "The enemies of virtue are pulling out all the stops. We must stand firm. This battle must be fought and won -- but it will take tens of thousands of dollars."

   Indeed Moore won his battle over the courtroom commandments, despite an initial state court ruling that he had violated the law. Moore appealed to the Alabama Supreme Court, which dismissed the case on a jurisdiction technicality.

   The dispute over the Ten Commandments resonated with another culture war battle being played out in Alabama and across the nation involving school prayer.

   Thanks to a series of U.S. Supreme Court decisions in the early 1960s, orchestrated prayer in public schools has been ruled unconstitutional. In ENGEL v. VITALE (1961), the justices struck down a New York law requiring teachers to lead students in a government-composed prayer which was presumably "nonsectarian" and did not support any specific religious belief, but which was sufficiently potent to attract the attention of a deity. In the combined cases of MURRAY v. CURLETT and ABINGTON TOWNSHIP SCHOOL DISTRICT v. SCHEMPP (1963), unison prayer and Bible verse recitation were declared unconstitutional. Churches and religious groups then concocted schemes like a "moment of silence," but in most cases the courts have considered this to be a simple ruse. In WALLACE v. JAFFREE (1985), ritual silent prayer was declared illegal.

   Alabama joined a number of other states, though, where school districts permitted and organized so-called "student led" prayer. The situation was particularly blatant in DeKalb country, where religious slogans and exhortations, along with meeting announcements for prayer groups, were played over school public address systems. Similar "student led" prayer at official events such as graduations and football games was common. When U.S. District Judge Ira DeMent ruled many of these practices to be illegal, a number of churches and religious organizations launched protests and "resistance" campaigns. Alabama Rep. Robert Aderholt, a fervent supporter of Judge Moore, called for an amendment to the U.S. Constitution to permit school prayer, and persuaded Congress to pass a nonbinding resolution in support of proselytizing students with the Ten Commandments.

   Moore has emerged as the poster boy for a growing "Hang Ten" movement which not only supports public school prayer, but display in government of the Decalogue. His decision to erect the Courts Building monument, though, has fazed even fellow jurists. The Huntsville Times questioned Moore's action in an August 3, 2001 editorial, noting: "At issue is whether Roy Moore, who happens to be Alabama's chief justice, is trying to bring a constitutionally impermissible 'establishment of religion' to the state Supreme Court and to state government... Moore has placed a 5,200-pound granite monument to the Ten Commandments in the rotunda of the State Supreme Court building. He did so without conferring with the other eight justices. He was acting, his attorney claimed, in his authority as leaseholder of the building."

   The Times added: "A natural question is whether Moore will favor one religion over another. Will he permit comparable monuments for Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists and others? Probably not..."

   Additional background on Moore's stealth campaign to quickly erect a Ten Commandments monument came from the Birmingham Post-Herald newspaper. It noted that "only a small circle of people knew the monument was being made or that it was placed in the building at night without prior announcement."

   "It was both presumptuous and arrogant for Moore to act as he did," added Post editors.

   According to the Gadsden Times, the state Supreme Court's senior judge, Gorman Houston "said the monument was put in the Judicial Building on Tuesday night (July 31) without the knowledge of the other eight justices and apparently without the knowledge of 10 other judges on the lower appellate courts."

   Judge Houston added that officials will research whether Moore had the proper authority to order placement of the Ten Commandments display "for the future's sake."

   Moore's unilateral action drew the endorsement of Gov. Don Siegelman, the state's former Attorney General who offered to defend Moore in any legal challenges over his court room Decalogue antics.

   "I certainly support the display of the Ten Commandments," Siegelman told reporters. "By the time they (defendants?) see them in the courtroom, it's generally too late. I think we ought to display them in a classroom as well..."

   Another fervent Moore supporter has been Dean Young of the Christian Family Association, a statewide group which has organized rallies on behalf of the judge. But Young criticized Moore for having the Ten Commandments monument display erected without fanfare and publicity. "I had offered to build them so we could acknowledge God on the first day he (Moore) took office." He and Moore have reportedly parted ways, and Young groused that he had not talked to the judge since he won election to the Supreme Court in November. One point of contention has been Moore's strategy of trying to have Ten Commandments displays pass constitutional muster by including secular historical documents -- a move suggested by the court of review in Moore's original legal entanglement in Etowah County.

   So far, there is no official court challenge to Moore's latest Ten Commandments display. Alabama's Chief Justice, though, has learned new tricks in defending the constitutionality of his religious promotional items, though, since he was first questioned over his hand-carved wooden Decalogue that hung in his Etowah County courtroom. While Moore gushes about the "favor and guidance of Almighty God," he has adroitly included a number of other items in his new granite monument in hopes "secularizing" it, and even suggesting that it is a "historical" or cultural device. The cenotaph is about the size of a washing machine (Gadsden Times) with the Commandments chiseled on two stone tablets set an angle on the top. It was paid for with donated funds raised by Moore and other unidentified individuals. "Moore deeded the monument to the state with the stipulation that if it's ever moved it becomes his property," noted Times reporter Dana Beyerle. The monument includes quotes from George Washington, James Madison, Thomas Jefferson and others.

   "I'm the highest legal authority in the state," Moore declared in a recent interview with a reporter from the Los Angeles Times, "and I wanted it (the Commandments monument) there. Doesn't it look great? You see, God is our higher (sic) moral authority."

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