unning for office, he moved to Texas in 1982, to train to be a professional karate fighter, and later, moved to Australia to become an outback cowboy and wrangle cattle. Moore loved the time he spent in Australia, saying it reminded him of "America, 100 years ago" (Walley). He then returned home to Gadsden and practiced private law. In 1992, he was elected Circuit Judge, Place Number One, of the Sixteenth Judicial Circuit in Gadsden. He served as Circuit Judge until November of 2000, when he was elected Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court. Moore has received numerous awards and recognition for his work and beliefs ("Chief Justice Roy Moore").
             Roy Moore's first glimpse of the controversy over religion came when he was Circuit Judge. In 1995, he hung a small, hand-carved, wooden plaque of the Ten Commandments on the wall in his courtroom. Moore had carved the plaque himself years before. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) sued Moore saying his plaque of the Ten Commandments, as well as his traditional courtroom prayer, was unconstitutional. The ACLU claimed that Moore's actions went against the First Amendment, which states, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion." Moore disagreed with the ACLU saying, "We've got to recognize that we either are a nation governed by a higher authority or we're not; and if God cannot be acknowledged, we're establishing a religion of secular humanism." ("Judge Moore Keeps Prayer, Ten Commandments in Court")
             Roy Moore knew it might cost him his job, but decided to be true to his beliefs. In 1997, Federal Circuit Court Judge Charles Price ordered Moore to remove the Ten Commandments from his courtroom. When he refused to remove the plaque, Judge Price threatened to have it removed by force. Moore said that if Price wanted the Ten Commandments moved, he would have to "se...