Commandments In The Closet

Building manager Graham George said the Alabama State Courthouse's Ten Commandments monument was in "a private storage area," declining to elaborate or say if the public would be able to see it.

With his monument removed from public view, suspended Chief Justice Roy Moore called a prominent Christian evangelist to his side and vowed that the fight is not over.

Moore and the Rev. James Dobson, a national radio talk show host, were expected to speak Thursday at the state judicial building. The 5,280-pound monument remained in the building despite being wheeled from the rotunda Wednesday to comply with a federal court order.

"It is a sad day in our country when the moral foundation of our laws and the acknowledgment of God has to be hidden from public view to appease a federal judge," Moore said in a statement. He has promised a full appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court to restore the monument he installed two years ago.

Scores of supporters who have kept a weeklong vigil outside the building were dismayed when the granite monument was lifted from its site and rolled by a work crew to a back room. But their leaders said their prayer sessions and rallies would continue into next week.

"This is not the last battle," said Patrick Mahoney, director of the Christian Defense Coalition. "There are many more to come.

"If you are discouraged now that the Ten Commandments monument no longer sits in the rotunda, come to Montgomery, Alabama," he added.

U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson of Montgomery, who ruled last year that the monument violates the constitution's ban on government endorsement of a religious doctrine, has scheduled a Friday conference call to determine if the state is now in compliance with his order.

His ruling said the marker could be in a private place in the building but not the highly visible site in the rotunda directly across from the entrance.

"This is a tremendous victory for the rule of law and respect for religious diversity," said the Rev. Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State. "Perhaps Roy Moore will soon leave the bench and move into the pulpit, which he seems better suited for."

Attorney General Bill Pryor said Wednesday he thinks the state has met the requirements of the court order, but he declined to give details on where the monument will remain.

Supporters of the monument hope a visit by Dobson, whose daily radio show is broadcast in 15 languages in 116 countries, will help keep the momentum they had built over an eight-day span.

"The issue in Alabama is not simply about a 5,300-pound monument depicting the Ten Commandments in an Alabama courthouse," said Dobson, who will also be joined by former presidential candidate Alan Keyes. "The larger issue is that the unelected, unaccountable judiciary, who are appointed for life, have become so powerful."

Moore was suspended by a judicial ethics panel when he refused to obey Thompson's order to move the monument. Under the threat of $5,000 daily fines on the state, the eight associate Supreme Court justices ordered the monument removed.

Pryor defended their action and is overseeing the prosecution of Moore on the ethics charge, which will be heard before the seven-member Court of the Judiciary, which has the power to discipline and remove judges. Moore has not yet filed his response to the charges, but has said he did nothing more than obey his oath.

Moore contends the federal judge has no authority to tell Alabama's chief justice to remove the monument.

Protesters turned their attention to Washington. The Rev. Rob Schenck, president of the Washington-based National Clergy Council, said his organization is pushing federal legislation to protect public displays of the Ten Commandments. Mahoney called on President Bush to speak out on the case.

Asked about the president's view of the controversy, White House spokeswoman Claire Buchan said: "It is important that we respect our laws and our courts. In some instances the courts have ruled that the posting of Ten Commandments is OK. In other circumstances they have ruled that it's not OK. In either case, there is always opportunity for appeal of courts' decisions."

A federal judge in Mobile Wednesday dismissed a lawsuit filed by supporters to keep the monument in the rotunda, reports CBS News Correspondent Elizabeth Sanchez.