Alabama Supreme Court

Suspended Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore wants four sitting Supreme Court justices — as well as three other former justices — to recuse themselves.

Moore’s eight former colleagues on the all-Republican Supreme Court will consider his prosecution and conviction.

No one expects Moore to fade quietly into obscurity.

The state’s Judicial Inquiry Commission is seeking his removal from the bench, arguing he directed state probate judges to refuse marriage licenses to gay couples.

A state judicial panel refused to dismiss an ethics complaint, saying Moore will go to trial for urging probate judges to defy the federal court ruling on same-sex marriage.

The judge faces ethics charges for telling probate judges they should ignore the Supreme Court ruling that legalized same-sex marriage nationwide.

The case could come to an earlier end if the court agrees with judicial prosecutors and removes Moore based on legal arguments.

Suspended Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore claims he was merely trying to answer questions from probate judges that his fellow justices would not address.

The panel will hear the chief justice’s plea to dismiss the ethics charges filed against him for ordering state judges to ignore the Supreme Court ruling in favor of marriage equality.

His lawyers say it was just a reminder, not an order.