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CNN Live Today

Ten Commandments Debate

Aired August 27, 2003 - 11:38   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.


LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: The state of Alabama moved the monument of the Ten Commandments from public view today from that courthouse there in Montgomery. Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore has been suspended now for failing to abide by a federal courts ruling that the display was unconstitutional, and should therefore be removed.
Now the stone is removed, but the controversy generated, well, that is still here. It's generated some passionate debate over religion and its role in government, and there may even be some political consequences when all the dust settles from this. So let's check on that particular angle now with our senior political analyst Bill Schneider. He joins us in London today.

That's a good one. I don't know how you work these things out, but good for you.

Let's talk about this scene we saw play out in Alabama today. We actually heard some of the activists out there saying that they were going to make this a big political issue this campaign season. How could that possibly be?

WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, all along, this judge, Roy Moore, has followed a strategy of deliberately provoking a confrontation. It goes way back to 1995, when he first became a circuit court judge, he had a hand-carved plaque of the Ten Commandments, he hung it in his courtroom, he was sued, and the suit was dismissed on technical grounds. He became somewhat of a hero to religious voters, and he ran for the chief justice position in the state supreme court on the slogan "Roy Moore, still the Ten Commandments judge." And he won very handsomely.

In 2001, he sneaked this monument into the supreme court anteroom, just outside the chambers of the supreme court. It's a massive monument. One of the objections the federal courts had is that its large, it is obtrusive, it is year round, it is unavoidable, they say.

But it looks like it was deliberately done to provoke a confrontation which has already gotten him elected to the chief justice position on the court from which he has just been removed. Does he have further political ambitions? He's a hero to a lot of Alabama voters. His office is not saying.

COLLINS: So you see all of this as something as campaign move on the judge's part to basically ensure his popularity and keep his job. What do you think about the GOP, and does the GOP have an official position on something like this? SCHNEIDER: Well, the Republican Party has historically, at least for the past 20 or 30 years, supported a role in which the federal government does not persecute religious Americans. They claim to be the party of faith, and argue that the Democrats have used the courts to violate religious liberties. In fact, on a number of grounds, religious Americans feel as if the federal judiciary has violated their religious rights by handing down rulings on issues like gay rights, and by allowing abortion more or less on demand, by outlawing school vouchers, by banning school prayer, by prohibiting -- by mandating rather the teaching of evolution.

On all these things, religious Americans say their rights as religious Americans are being violated, and they frankly can't see how the Ten Commandments can possibly be offensive to anyone. So to religious Americans, this is an issue of common sense. And if the Republican Party has embraced their cause now ever since Ronald Reagan came to power in 1980.

COLLINS: That's very interesting, because I see a bit of irony here. These were the same groups talking about the importance of rule of law back during the Clinton administration days, and here's a case where the courts had ruled that this had to go, and they're taking the exact opposite position.

SCHNEIDER: Well, that's right. The constant themes among conservatives is an overaggressive federal judiciary violating people's right, and this is a perfect example of what they see as their religious liberties being trodden upon by the federal judiciary. I'm not sure the Republican Party will instantly embrace this cause, because in that case, they'd be defying the court, but I think they'll figure out some way of showing at least sympathy.

COLLINS: Yes, and if they can get somehow get some support because of a quiet stance on it, that's a smart move on their part as well. We'll have to talk about this some other time, Bill. Thanks, appreciate that. And enjoy your time in London. Wish I was there with you.

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 27, 2003 - 11:38   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: The state of Alabama moved the monument of the Ten Commandments from public view today from that courthouse there in Montgomery. Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore has been suspended now for failing to abide by a federal courts ruling that the display was unconstitutional, and should therefore be removed.
Now the stone is removed, but the controversy generated, well, that is still here. It's generated some passionate debate over religion and its role in government, and there may even be some political consequences when all the dust settles from this. So let's check on that particular angle now with our senior political analyst Bill Schneider. He joins us in London today.

That's a good one. I don't know how you work these things out, but good for you.

Let's talk about this scene we saw play out in Alabama today. We actually heard some of the activists out there saying that they were going to make this a big political issue this campaign season. How could that possibly be?

WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, all along, this judge, Roy Moore, has followed a strategy of deliberately provoking a confrontation. It goes way back to 1995, when he first became a circuit court judge, he had a hand-carved plaque of the Ten Commandments, he hung it in his courtroom, he was sued, and the suit was dismissed on technical grounds. He became somewhat of a hero to religious voters, and he ran for the chief justice position in the state supreme court on the slogan "Roy Moore, still the Ten Commandments judge." And he won very handsomely.

In 2001, he sneaked this monument into the supreme court anteroom, just outside the chambers of the supreme court. It's a massive monument. One of the objections the federal courts had is that its large, it is obtrusive, it is year round, it is unavoidable, they say.

But it looks like it was deliberately done to provoke a confrontation which has already gotten him elected to the chief justice position on the court from which he has just been removed. Does he have further political ambitions? He's a hero to a lot of Alabama voters. His office is not saying.

COLLINS: So you see all of this as something as campaign move on the judge's part to basically ensure his popularity and keep his job. What do you think about the GOP, and does the GOP have an official position on something like this? SCHNEIDER: Well, the Republican Party has historically, at least for the past 20 or 30 years, supported a role in which the federal government does not persecute religious Americans. They claim to be the party of faith, and argue that the Democrats have used the courts to violate religious liberties. In fact, on a number of grounds, religious Americans feel as if the federal judiciary has violated their religious rights by handing down rulings on issues like gay rights, and by allowing abortion more or less on demand, by outlawing school vouchers, by banning school prayer, by prohibiting -- by mandating rather the teaching of evolution.

On all these things, religious Americans say their rights as religious Americans are being violated, and they frankly can't see how the Ten Commandments can possibly be offensive to anyone. So to religious Americans, this is an issue of common sense. And if the Republican Party has embraced their cause now ever since Ronald Reagan came to power in 1980.

COLLINS: That's very interesting, because I see a bit of irony here. These were the same groups talking about the importance of rule of law back during the Clinton administration days, and here's a case where the courts had ruled that this had to go, and they're taking the exact opposite position.

SCHNEIDER: Well, that's right. The constant themes among conservatives is an overaggressive federal judiciary violating people's right, and this is a perfect example of what they see as their religious liberties being trodden upon by the federal judiciary. I'm not sure the Republican Party will instantly embrace this cause, because in that case, they'd be defying the court, but I think they'll figure out some way of showing at least sympathy.

COLLINS: Yes, and if they can get somehow get some support because of a quiet stance on it, that's a smart move on their part as well. We'll have to talk about this some other time, Bill. Thanks, appreciate that. And enjoy your time in London. Wish I was there with you.

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