Amid Senate campaign, Roy Moore installs Ten Commandments monument in office

To get some excitement into a Senate campaign struggling to gain traction, former Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore Tuesday played the hits. 

Moore installed a granite monument of the Ten Commandments -- which led to his ouster as chief justice in 2003 -- at his Foundation for Moral Law in downtown Montgomery on Tuesday. 

"This is the foundation of moral law," Moore said during a 20-minute speech with family members and supporters at his nonprofit. "It belongs in the Foundation for Moral Law."

It's also appearing on at least one campaign billboard for Moore's campaign and consumed most of Moore's speech on Tuesday. 

"My focus is on all the issues," he said afterward. "This is just one of the issues. It’s an issue I consider of major importance. Because of the disunity, because of the fighting, because of the crime throughout society."

The speech hit most of Moore's usual themes, including putting religion in the public sphere.  Moore said society had convinced individuals "to take God out of our lives," which he said led from everything to crime to political corruption.

"Why do you think we have political corruption?" he said. "Why do you think in Iowa they can't even find out who won? Ladies and gentlemen, we have corruption because we've forgotten morality."

Whether the move will help the former Alabama chief justice, who faces allegations of assault, harassment, and inappropriate behavior with younger women, remains to be seen. 

Moore won the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate in 2017, but narrowly lost to Democratic nominee Doug Jones amid the allegations and a well-funded and focused campaign from Jones. The former chief justice announced his campaign for the Senate last year, but he has been unable to generate attention or fundraising to this point. 

Moore's fundraising increased modestly in the fourth quarter of 2019, but he remains well behind Republican front runners for the nomination. He reported raising $44,807 between Oct. 1 and Dec. 31 and spending $34,881, finishing the period with $44,166 on hand. By contrast, former Sen. Jeff Sessions finished the period with $2.5 million on hand; U.S. Rep. Bradley Byrne ended the period with $2.2 million in the bank, and former Auburn head football coach Tommy Tuberville finished with $1.5 million.

The former chief justice, though, has never been a good fundraiser, and relies on his high name recognition to carry him over the top. 

The event drew a small group of protestors, including Bianca Cameron-Schwiesow, who carried a "No Moore Rapists in Alabama Politics" sign outside the windows of Moore's office. Protestors also periodically yelled statements like "no more rapists in Alabama politics" as Moore and other speakers spoke.

"Roy Moore needs to retire," said Mia Raven, an advocate for abortion rights. "He just needs to go home and leave Alabama politics to people who are serious about it."

Moore denied the allegations and repeated accusations that they were politically motivated. 

"This is political," he said. "It is ridiculous." (Moore's accusers have stuck by their charges.)

The former chief justice also relitigated some other fights. Moore accused the LGBTQ+ "movement" of attacking religious liberty. Moore was suspended as chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court in 2016 after ordering probate judges to stop issuing same-sex marriage licenses. He accused U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby of "throwing the election" to Jones after saying he would not vote for Moore in the 2017 election. 

"Doug Jones was elected because of Richard Shelby," he said. 

Moore first engaged in a battle over religious practices and displays in his courtroom as an Etowah County Circuit Judge in the 1990s. He rode the issue to election as Alabama chief justice in 2000. 

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The following year, Moore installed a granite monument depicting the Ten Commandments in the lobby of the Heflin-Torbert Judicial Building in Montgomery. Moore did not tell his fellow justices what he was doing, but had the installation recorded. Tapes of the process were later sold to pay Moore's legal bills. 

U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson ordered Moore to remove the monument in 2003. Moore refused, leading to his first ouster as Alabama chief justice. Re-elected in 2012, Moore was suspended for the remainder of his term after attempting to stop the issuance of marriage licenses to same-sex couples. 

Contact Montgomery Advertiser reporter Brian Lyman at 334-240-0185 or blyman@gannett.com.