Judge: 10 Commandments Stay Put

(AP)  Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore said Thursday that he won't obey a federal court order to remove a Ten Commandments monument from the rotunda of the state's judicial building.

Moore read a statement in front of the monument he installed,
declaring that federal Judge Myron Thompson has no authority to
order its removal.

A federal appeals court has upheld Judge Thompson's finding that
the Ten Commandments monument unconstitutionally promotes religion.

But Moore says removing it would violate his oath to uphold the
Alabama constitution, which invokes "the favor and guidance of
Almighty God." He says he'll ask the U.S. Supreme Court to block
Judge Thompson's order.

Thompson has ordered the monument removed by next Wednesday and
has threatened to fine the state for each day it remains.