By Staff
Bob Ingram, Alabama Scene
MONTGOMERY–It had to be the least surprising news of the year–a special State Supreme Court unanimously upheld the ousting of Roy Moore as chief justice.
In fact the only surprise was that it took so long for the special court to reach its decision. It was such an open-and-shut case that a decision could have been handed down in a matter of days rather than months.
Where Moore will go from here remains to be seen, but his legal counsel has indicated the decision will be appealed.
Reactions to the ruling were all of the knee-jerk variety, and if a prize was to be awarded for the best one-liner, it would surely go to one of Moore's attorneys, Terry Butts.
Speaking of the judges who made up the special Supreme Court and ruled against Moore, Butts opined: "If their rear ends were as narrow as their minds they could all sit in the same rocking chair."
That's a great line, especially from a man named Butts.
The Southern Poverty Law Center, one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit to remove the Ten Commandments monument, was pleased with the ruling but they now want to punish Moore even more.
A spokesman for that organization said they would seek to have Moore disbarred.
Immediate reaction to the attempt to take away Moore's license to practice law was negative. To some it smacked of kicking a man while he was down. Moore has been disgraced like no chief justice in Alabama history. Enough is enough.
I was one of about 40 men and women who served on that commission. We put in a lot of hours, heard from countless witnesses, and with a roll of drums and blare of trumpets we finally made public our recommendations. Lots of them.
You talk about an exercise in futility. And sadly, I knew from the beginning that would be the result. None of the major and but a few of the minor recommendations the commission made for cutting costs, reducing the size and cost of state government, or bringing more accountability, got to first base in the Legislature.
None of us had any illusions that our recommendations that teachers and state employees contribute more for their health insurance and retirement benefits would get to first base in a Legislature so totally controlled by Paul Hubbert of the AEA.
We had a little hope…but not much…that the legislature would agree to amending the law to require teachers/employees to work 30 years instead of 25 to get full retirement benefits, but that got no where either.
The one recommendation I honestly thought had a chance of approval related to state holidays, which has been a sore spot with taxpayers for years.
We proposed that the number of state holidays be reduced from 13 to 11 (which is still more than federal employees get). It would have saved the state millions of dollars, but that bill never got to first base either.
The bottom line: I don't think I will frame that certificate.
Specifically the measure applies to "golf course neighborhoods" which operate country clubs. It would apply in all of the 36 counties which are now "dry."
The bill passed the House by a 52-37 vote but must be re-passed by the Senate because of several changes in the legislation. Final passage seems assured. Whether Gov. Riley will sign it into law remains to be seen.
Outnumbered opponents of the bill called it "elitist" because it would allow "the country clubbers to buy a drink but deny that right to the 'Bubba's'" who can't afford to join the club.