Supreme Court rejects appeal on Ten Commandments

MONTGOMERY, Ala. -- Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore lost a last-ditch appeal Wednesday to keep a Ten Commandments monument in the state judicial building, clearing the way for its removal as protesters at the marker were handcuffed by police and led away.

Scores of Moore supporters sang and prayed outside the building as those inside were removed from the rotunda. A total of 16 protesters were arrested and taken to the Montgomery County Jail, where they were charged with trespassing and would be released on their own recognizance, said chief deputy Derrick Cunningham.

"It's time for Roy's rock to roll," said Ayesha Khan, an attorney for Americans United for Separation of Church and State, one of the groups that sued to force the removal of the 5,300-pound, granite monument.

The U.S. Supreme Court rejected Moore's emergency plea for a stay late Wednesday afternoon, declining to be drawn into a dispute over whether the monument violates the Constitution's ban on government promotion of religion.

U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson had set a midnight Wednesday deadline for the monument's removal from the rotunda of the building, but he was not expected to take action before Friday to have the monument physically removed.

He has threatened $5,000-a-day fines against the state if his order is ignored after the deadline.

Attorneys who sued said they expect to file a contempt of court petition against Moore that Thompson may consider in a conference call Friday, setting the stage for fines.

After the Supreme Court refused to intervene, Moore supporters kneeled and stood at the monument, which is directly across from the entrance to the rotunda. Refusing to leave, they were handcuffed by Montgomery police and led, one by one, out of the rotunda. Several of the protesters refused to walk and were dragged from the rotunda or pushed out in wheelchairs.

Outside the building, Moore supporters sang hymns and patriotic songs, prayed and preached.

Bryan Ashley of Nashville, Tenn., stood at the glass doors to the building and watched as his mother, Barbara Labbous of Prattville, was arrested. While waiting for police to take her to the jail Labbous came to the door and asked for her Bible, but building marshals would not open the doors.

Ashley said he had wanted to be inside and be arrested with his mother, but the doors were locked before he could get inside.

"Even if we lose, it's right for us to stand up for justice," Ashley said.

Moore, who installed the monument in the rotunda of the judicial building two years ago in the middle of the night, said in a statement that he does not consider the case over and pointed out that he still has pending an appeal to the Supreme Court on the merits of the case.

"The U.S. Supreme Court's denial of a stay today will not deter me from continuing to fight for the right of our state to acknowledge God," Moore said in the statement, read to reporters by his spokesman, Tom Parker.

His lawyers told the justices in a filing that Moore should be allowed to "establish justice by acknowledging the guidance and favor of Almighty God, placed upon him by his oath of office and the Constitution of Alabama."

"This case is not about a monument, it's not about politics or religion, it's about the acknowledgment of God," Moore said during an interview on CBS' "The Early Show." "We must acknowledge God because our constitution says our justice system is established upon God."

The Supreme Court has never ruled on the constitutionality of such indoor and outdoor government displays. In 1980, the court barred Ten Commandments from classroom walls in public schools.

David Frederick, a Washington attorney who specializes in Supreme Court practice, said the rejection of a stay does not necessarily mean the issue can't be revisited.

"It's not like somebody's about to face execution, if the court doesn't enter a stay the person will be dead and the appeal will be moot," Frederick said. "If the Supreme Court were to decide it's constitutional, it can always be put back."

Alabama Attorney General Bill Pryor said earlier Wednesday that the eight associate justices of the Supreme Court have the authority to override Moore and have the monument removed if it came to that.

Pryor said he does not have authority over the judicial building but "will continue to advise state officials of their legal duty to obey the federal injunction on pain of contempt sanctions."

Justice Douglas Johnstone said he proposed to the other associate justices Wednesday that they move the monument from the rotunda to a private area of the judicial building and leave it there until the Supreme Court hears Moore's appeal. Thompson in his order said the monument could stay in the building if it was moved to a private area out of public view.

Johnstone said his proposal did not receive the required five votes from the justices. But he said the justices are continuing to discuss the issue.

Also, supporters of Moore and opponents of the monument had competing news conferences outside the judicial building Wednesday afternoon.

The Rev. Rob Schenck of the National Clergy Council, and other Moore supporters said they presented a petition containing 185,000 signatures of monument supporters from across the country to the offices of Alabama Gov. Bob Riley and Pryor. Neither official was in his office at the time.

About 20 members of the Alabama Freethought Association held a news conference at the same time on the judicial building steps saying the monument should be removed.

EDITOR'S NOTE: AP Writer Gina Holland in Washington, D.C., contributed to this report.