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Alabama Supreme Court Vows to Move Ten Commandments Monument

Aired August 21, 2003 - 14:00   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.


KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Up first this hour, rock of ages versus rule of law in Montgomery, Alabama.
Thirteen hours have come and gone since the federal court deadline to remove the Ten Commandments from lobby of the state's main courthouse. Granted, it's granite, a two-ton monument that isn't going anywhere easily but still, the weight of jurisprudence is piling up against it today.

A revolt in the state's highest court. We get chapter and verse from CNN'S David Mattingly in Montgomery -- David.

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, at this hour the monument is exactly where it's been for the last two years, and it is in the rotunda of the judicial building here at the state of Alabama.

To see it, you have to go up these steps that are now blocked by people here, who are trying to keep the monument in there. They have been sitting on these steps all night. Just past those glass doors, we have some video to show you. The monument is inside, in the rotunda, where Judge Roy Moore placed it himself two years ago.

And since then it has been a bone of legal contention. The court has decided that it is a violation of the constitutional separation of church and state.

Last night the midnight deadline passed, Judge Moore saying he's not going to remove it. But now we know who is going to be responsible for moving it. The other justices on the Alabama State Supreme Court decided that it is up to the building manager of the judicial building, the man who's responsible for taking care of this building.

He is now going to be responsible for moving that monument and bringing the state into compliance with that court order. And it is going to be a tall order for that building manager, as you were saying. This is a very heavy monument, a solid piece of granite, 2.5 tons. They gave him the option of moving it as soon as practicable, which means they have to figure out exactly where they're going to put it and how they're going to get it there.

In the meantime, the state attorney general, Bill Pryor, issued a statement briefly saying that he was very pleased with what the justices did here today, that they were acting within the rule of law, and that he hopes that what they did today will help prevent the state of Alabama from being hit by those $5,000-a-day fines that the federal court has threatened to levy in the case. Now, if you look around me, you see a lot of people still standing around here. If you were watching at all last night, there were scores of people out here as the deadline approached. Some of the people didn't go home at all. Some people were here all night. These people are vowing to stay here 24 hours a day, hoping and praying quite often here, often in groups, sometimes individually, that the monument be somehow be allowed to stay in this building.

And a little bit later today, at 3:30 Eastern, we will hear again from Chief Justice Roy Moore. Over here to the left you see a podium that's been set up with all the microphones. There's where Justice Moore is supposed to speak to us. He has been steadfast in his belief that this monument is in the rotunda is not a constitutional violation of the separation of church and state.

Many of these people out here in strong agreement with him. In fact, yesterday we had some video to show you. Some people at closing time refused to leave the building. They were then arrested and taken away, charged with trespassing.

No chance of that happening today, however, because the doors to this building have been closed to the public. They've been locked. No one allowed to go inside. If anyone wants to see this monument, they have to walk up the steps. They have look in those windows and look across the rotunda to see the monument. But that is what's going on right now. A lot of judicial movement, but so far no movement whatsoever of that monument -- Miles.

PHILLIPS: David Mattingly, thank 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




Monument>


Aired August 21, 2003 - 14:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Up first this hour, rock of ages versus rule of law in Montgomery, Alabama.
Thirteen hours have come and gone since the federal court deadline to remove the Ten Commandments from lobby of the state's main courthouse. Granted, it's granite, a two-ton monument that isn't going anywhere easily but still, the weight of jurisprudence is piling up against it today.

A revolt in the state's highest court. We get chapter and verse from CNN'S David Mattingly in Montgomery -- David.

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, at this hour the monument is exactly where it's been for the last two years, and it is in the rotunda of the judicial building here at the state of Alabama.

To see it, you have to go up these steps that are now blocked by people here, who are trying to keep the monument in there. They have been sitting on these steps all night. Just past those glass doors, we have some video to show you. The monument is inside, in the rotunda, where Judge Roy Moore placed it himself two years ago.

And since then it has been a bone of legal contention. The court has decided that it is a violation of the constitutional separation of church and state.

Last night the midnight deadline passed, Judge Moore saying he's not going to remove it. But now we know who is going to be responsible for moving it. The other justices on the Alabama State Supreme Court decided that it is up to the building manager of the judicial building, the man who's responsible for taking care of this building.

He is now going to be responsible for moving that monument and bringing the state into compliance with that court order. And it is going to be a tall order for that building manager, as you were saying. This is a very heavy monument, a solid piece of granite, 2.5 tons. They gave him the option of moving it as soon as practicable, which means they have to figure out exactly where they're going to put it and how they're going to get it there.

In the meantime, the state attorney general, Bill Pryor, issued a statement briefly saying that he was very pleased with what the justices did here today, that they were acting within the rule of law, and that he hopes that what they did today will help prevent the state of Alabama from being hit by those $5,000-a-day fines that the federal court has threatened to levy in the case. Now, if you look around me, you see a lot of people still standing around here. If you were watching at all last night, there were scores of people out here as the deadline approached. Some of the people didn't go home at all. Some people were here all night. These people are vowing to stay here 24 hours a day, hoping and praying quite often here, often in groups, sometimes individually, that the monument be somehow be allowed to stay in this building.

And a little bit later today, at 3:30 Eastern, we will hear again from Chief Justice Roy Moore. Over here to the left you see a podium that's been set up with all the microphones. There's where Justice Moore is supposed to speak to us. He has been steadfast in his belief that this monument is in the rotunda is not a constitutional violation of the separation of church and state.

Many of these people out here in strong agreement with him. In fact, yesterday we had some video to show you. Some people at closing time refused to leave the building. They were then arrested and taken away, charged with trespassing.

No chance of that happening today, however, because the doors to this building have been closed to the public. They've been locked. No one allowed to go inside. If anyone wants to see this monument, they have to walk up the steps. They have look in those windows and look across the rotunda to see the monument. But that is what's going on right now. A lot of judicial movement, but so far no movement whatsoever of that monument -- Miles.

PHILLIPS: David Mattingly, thank 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




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