Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore is headed to trial next month.
The nine members of the Alabama Court of the Judiciary decided yesterday’s hearing wasn’t enough to address the ethics charges against Chief Justice Moore. The Chief Justice is accused of abusing his power as chief justice to promote an agenda against same-sex marriage. The Judicial Inquiry Commission says Moore encouraged the state’s probate judges to defy a U.S. Supreme Court decision that had already legalized gay marriage nationwide.
Moore addressed a crowd of supporters outside the state judicial building after yesterday’s hearing. He says he did nothing of the sort.
“They said that I urged the federal courts – or the probate judges to disobey the federal courts – there is nothing in any of that administrative order that says that. Nothing. In fact, I said I’m not at liberty to give you guidance. That’s the Alabama Supreme Court that gives you guidance.”
Moore’s trial is scheduled for September 28. If the court decides he violated judicial ethics, he could face his second removal from office.
Alabama Governor Robert Bentley has appointed Tuscaloosa County District Attorney Lyn Head to the Alabama Board of Pardons and Paroles.
Head will join the three-member board early next month, after which Governor Bentley will appoint someone to fill the district attorney position.
Head says the board has expanded its objective beyond merely monitoring paroled or pardoned offenders. It has started to set its own policies and has created a program to further prisoner re-entry efforts.
Head has served as Tuscaloosa's district attorney since the governor appointed her in 2013.
It’s time for Alabama's students to hit the books.
A few schools across the state started back last week, and many more are back in session for the fall semester this week. The state of Alabama’s Board of Education says schools will be looking to hold around 740,000 students this year.
Public Information Manager Malissa Valdes-Hubert says transportation is key to getting kids and parents started.
“Before school starts, it’s always great to make parents and students aware of bus safety, bus routes, when the busses are going to be coming through picking kids up, and of course, like I said, always the safety of those children on the buses. Making sure they have all the items they need before they get on the bus, and when you’re driving around buses as a parent.”
Parents can expect a higher standard held for children in the third grade. The installation of Lexi’s Law requires students to have a more extensive knowledge of writing and reading in cursive.