By Alabama Public Radio
Montgomery, AL – The state attorney general's office asked a federal judge Monday to dismiss a lawsuit by several Montgomery area voters. The residents claim their votes were invalidated when former chief justice Roy Moore was removed from office. Deputy Attorney General Charles Campbell says the lawsuit should be dismissed partly because Moore's case is still active in state courts. Campbell also says the Alabama Court of Judiciary has been disciplining judges for 30 years and did not violate the rights of voters when it removed Moore. But the attorney representing the voters, Brian Chavez-Ochoa, says Moore's case is separate from the lawsuit filed by his clients. He told U-S- District Judge Mark Fuller that Moore's appeal should not be tied to the Montgomery voters' lawsuit. The Court of the Judiciary voted unanimously last month to remove Moore from office for refusing to obey a federal court order. Moore would not move his Ten Commandments monument from the rotunda of the state Judicial Building.