Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Live At Daybreak

Coffey Talk: Ten Commandments Case

Aired August 21, 2003 - 06:06   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: The man behind "Roy's rock," Alabama Supreme Court Justice Roy Moore, says his fight to keep the controversial monument is not over.
On CNN's "NEWSNIGHT WITH AARON BROWN," the judge says the ruling has far-reaching consequences.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF JUSTICE ROY MOORE, ALABAMA SUPREME COURT: This federal judge said this issue in this case is whether or not the state can acknowledge God, and he said we could not. So, by doing that and by telling me to remove the monument, he's telling me to disacknowledge the God upon which the justice system is established, and I can't do that. It's a violation of my oath. To do it would void everything I'm sworn to uphold and the mandate of the people for which I was elected.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Time for some "Coffey Talk" on the Ten Commandments case. Live on the phone from Miami now, legal analyst Kendall Coffey.

Good morning -- Kendall.

KENDALL COFFEY, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Hey, good morning, Carol.

COSTELLO: All right, will we see Alabama's chief justice in prison stripes instead of a black robe?

COFFEY: I don't think that the failure to remove "Roy's rock" is going to cause anybody to be breaking rocks in the short term. For now, the federal judge is not talking about sending in the marshals to arrest Chief Justice Moore, or even to remove the monument. They're talking about fines, very substantial ones, perhaps $5,000 a day, to be doubled each week therefore. So, if this continues, it could get very, very expensive for somebody.

COSTELLO: Will those fines begin today?

COFFEY: The fines would begin just as soon as the judge orders it, but the parties could be in court very quickly, within a day or two, because it's very plain that the order is being disobeyed and that he continues to believe that he's going to disobey the order.

COSTELLO: Well, let's talk about what he said. You know, we played a sound byte from the Aaron Brown show. He said that the federal judge says by putting this statue in a state building, it's the state acknowledging God, which is a violation of the separation of church and state. He's saying that he can't do this, because it would be disacknowledging God and that he cannot do that. How do you respond to that?

COFFEY: But as of 12:01 this morning, Carol, the issue really no longer became church and state. It became whether or not the orders of this land's courts are going to be obeyed. And as the highest- ranking member of Alabama's own judiciary, Chief Justice Moore knows as well as anyone that even if you have a sincere good-faith belief that a court order is wrong, it does not excuse the refusal to comply with that order once the appeals are exhausted. Our entire system depends on people believing in and respecting the rule of law.

COSTELLO: So, does Judge Moore have any recourse? Can he go anywhere to appeal this federal judge's ruling?

COFFEY: Well, he has gone to the highest authority in this world, which is the U.S. Supreme Court, and they have said they're not going to intervene for now. So, the appropriate thing to do is to, for now, allow that monument to be removed. That's what the law commands. And he can continue to seek review. He's lost at two federal levels of the courts already, but he can continue to seek final review from the Supreme Court down the road.

COSTELLO: All right, we'll see what happens later today. We've got correspondents there. Kendall Coffey, thanks for joining DAYBREAK this morning.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.






Aired August 21, 2003 - 06:06   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: The man behind "Roy's rock," Alabama Supreme Court Justice Roy Moore, says his fight to keep the controversial monument is not over.
On CNN's "NEWSNIGHT WITH AARON BROWN," the judge says the ruling has far-reaching consequences.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF JUSTICE ROY MOORE, ALABAMA SUPREME COURT: This federal judge said this issue in this case is whether or not the state can acknowledge God, and he said we could not. So, by doing that and by telling me to remove the monument, he's telling me to disacknowledge the God upon which the justice system is established, and I can't do that. It's a violation of my oath. To do it would void everything I'm sworn to uphold and the mandate of the people for which I was elected.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Time for some "Coffey Talk" on the Ten Commandments case. Live on the phone from Miami now, legal analyst Kendall Coffey.

Good morning -- Kendall.

KENDALL COFFEY, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Hey, good morning, Carol.

COSTELLO: All right, will we see Alabama's chief justice in prison stripes instead of a black robe?

COFFEY: I don't think that the failure to remove "Roy's rock" is going to cause anybody to be breaking rocks in the short term. For now, the federal judge is not talking about sending in the marshals to arrest Chief Justice Moore, or even to remove the monument. They're talking about fines, very substantial ones, perhaps $5,000 a day, to be doubled each week therefore. So, if this continues, it could get very, very expensive for somebody.

COSTELLO: Will those fines begin today?

COFFEY: The fines would begin just as soon as the judge orders it, but the parties could be in court very quickly, within a day or two, because it's very plain that the order is being disobeyed and that he continues to believe that he's going to disobey the order.

COSTELLO: Well, let's talk about what he said. You know, we played a sound byte from the Aaron Brown show. He said that the federal judge says by putting this statue in a state building, it's the state acknowledging God, which is a violation of the separation of church and state. He's saying that he can't do this, because it would be disacknowledging God and that he cannot do that. How do you respond to that?

COFFEY: But as of 12:01 this morning, Carol, the issue really no longer became church and state. It became whether or not the orders of this land's courts are going to be obeyed. And as the highest- ranking member of Alabama's own judiciary, Chief Justice Moore knows as well as anyone that even if you have a sincere good-faith belief that a court order is wrong, it does not excuse the refusal to comply with that order once the appeals are exhausted. Our entire system depends on people believing in and respecting the rule of law.

COSTELLO: So, does Judge Moore have any recourse? Can he go anywhere to appeal this federal judge's ruling?

COFFEY: Well, he has gone to the highest authority in this world, which is the U.S. Supreme Court, and they have said they're not going to intervene for now. So, the appropriate thing to do is to, for now, allow that monument to be removed. That's what the law commands. And he can continue to seek review. He's lost at two federal levels of the courts already, but he can continue to seek final review from the Supreme Court down the road.

COSTELLO: All right, we'll see what happens later today. We've got correspondents there. Kendall Coffey, thanks for joining DAYBREAK this morning.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.