He was the Republican Party nominee in the 2017 U.S. Senate special election in Alabama to fill the seat vacated by Jeff Sessions, but was accused by several women of sexually assaulting them while they were underage and lost to Democratic candidate Doug Jones.

[13] He has attracted national media attention and controversy over his views on race, homosexuality, transgender people, and Islam, his belief that Christianity should dictate public policy,[14][15] and his past ties to neo-Confederate and white-nationalist groups.

During his tenure there, Moore was investigated by the state bar for "suspect conduct" after convening a grand jury to examine what he perceived to have been funding shortages in the sheriff's office.

Several weeks after the state bar investigation was dismissed as unfounded, Moore quit his prosecuting position to run as a Democrat for the county's circuit-court judge seat in 1982.

From the state capital, Brisbane, he first went to Ayr and helped with the sugar cane harvest, then inland to what is now the Central Highlands Region, where he fulfilled his longtime desire to see the Outback, eventually working at the Telemon ranch near Springsure, a town where many residents are devout Christians.

This original lawsuit was eventually dismissed for technical reasons, but Governor Fob James instructed state attorney general Bill Pryor to file suit in Montgomery County in support of Moore.

The case was tried before state circuit judge Charles Price, who in 1996 declared the prayers unconstitutional but initially allowed the Ten Commandments plaque to remain on the courtroom walls.

[36] In late 1999, the American Family Association began working to draft Moore into the race for chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court, when incumbent Republican Perry O. Hooper, Sr., of Montgomery announced that he would not seek reelection.

[24] Nevertheless, on December 7, 1999, Moore announced from his Etowah County courtroom that he would enter the race with the hope of returning "God to our public life and restore the moral foundation of our law".

However, as Moore made headway in state polls, See elicited the help of Republican strategist Karl Rove, advisor to Texas governor and future president George W. Bush.

The connection between God and our law could not be more clear ...[24]A month after his election, Moore began making plans for a large monument to the Ten Commandments, believing that the Heflin-Torbert Judicial Building required something grander than a wooden plaque.

Videotapes of this event were sold by Coral Ridge Ministries, an evangelical media outlet in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, which later used proceeds from the sales of the tapes to underwrite Moore's ensuing legal expenses.

[48] Moore argued that he would not remove the monument, as doing so would violate his oath of office: [The monument] serves to remind the Appellate Courts and judges of the Circuit and District Court of this State and members of the bar who appear before them, as well as the people of Alabama who visit the [Heflin-Torbet Judicial Building], of the truth stated in the Preamble to the Alabama Constitution that in order to establish justice we must invoke 'the favor and guidance of almighty God'.

He added that the addition of the monument to the state judiciary building marked "the beginning of the restoration of the moral foundation of law to our people" and "a return to the knowledge of God in our land".

In closing arguments, the assistant attorney general said Moore's defiance, left unchecked, "undercuts the entire workings of the judicial system ... What message does that send to the public, to other litigants?

"[57] The next day, the COJ issued a unanimous opinion ruling that "Chief Justice Moore has violated the Alabama Canons of Judicial Ethics as alleged by the JIC in its complaint."

[80][81] The Human Rights Campaign, an LGBT rights group, responded: "It is clear that Roy Moore not only believes he is above the law, he believes he is above judicial ethics ... Moore was tasked with upholding the law of the land when marriage equality was affirmed by the Supreme Court of the United States, and he defied that task, in the process harming loving, committed same-sex couples across Alabama for his own personal, discriminatory reasons.

[110][111] At Moore's request,[112] oral argument was canceled to speed up the proceedings, and the special Supreme Court agreed to rule on the case based on the written submissions of the parties.

[4][5] About Moore's candidacy, Richard Shelby, Alabama's senior U.S. senator, harbored concerns about him long before sexual misconduct allegations surfaced, including his willingness as a judge to disobey judicial orders, saying, "I disagree with a lot of court decisions ... but still it's the law.

[23] The foundation's former chair, Alabama circuit court judge John Bentley, denied that the board did anything wrong intentionally, but was unable to explain shortcomings in tax filings and audits.

[134] In the first round of the June 2010 Republican primary election, Moore came in fourth place with 19.3% of the vote, behind Bradley Byrne (27.9%), Robert J. Bentley (25.2%), and Tim James (25.1%).

[128][138] [unreliable source] In November 2011, Moore withdrew his exploratory committee and ended all speculation of a presidential candidacy when he instead announced that he would in 2012 seek his former post of chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court.

In a subsequent interview, Moore said that the First Amendment protects all faiths: "It applies to the rights God gave us to be free in our modes of thinking, and as far as religious liberty to all people, regardless of what they believe.

Moore and other opponents of the measure argued that the amendment's wording would have allowed federal judges to force the state to fund public school improvements with increased taxes.

[211] In 2007, Moore opposed preschool, claiming that attendees are "much more likely to learn a liberal social and political philosophy" and that state involvement in early childhood education is characteristic of totalitarianism.

[196] Later, in September 2017, Moore criticized Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), which grants temporary stay to unauthorized immigrants brought to the United States as children.

[195][14] Moore is supportive of laws to make homosexuality illegal, and has argued that same-sex parents are unfit to raise children, that openly gay individuals should not be allowed to serve in government, and that the legitimization of various forms of "sodomy" may cause suffering in the United States.

"[222] Moore has called for banning Muslims from serving in Congress, described Islam as a "false religion" and made unsubstantiated claims about Sharia law in the United States.

[242] In September 2018, Moore filed a lawsuit against Baron Cohen, Showtime, and CBS Corporation seeking $95 million in damages for alleged fraud, defamation, and emotional distress.

"[246] This decision was upheld in July 2022, with the appeals court writing in its unsigned summary order that "Baron Cohen may have implied (despite his in character disclaimers of any belief that Judge Moore was a pedophile) that he believed Judge Moore's accusers, but he did not imply the existence of any independent factual basis for that belief besides the obviously farcical pedophile detecting 'device,' which no reasonable person could believe to be an actual, functioning piece of technology.