Roy Moore sues Alabama over COVID-19 restrictions

Former Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore and a conservative legal advocacy group he founded have sued Gov. Kay Ivey (R) over restrictions imposed during the coronavirus pandemic.

Moore and the Foundation for Moral Law accused Ivey and State Health Officer Scott Harris of infringing on citizens’ rights with requirements that masks be worn in public.

“Unconstitutional restriction of church assembly and worship, discriminatory closing of businesses, stay at home orders, social distancing, wearing of masks, and restriction on travel are simply against our rights secured by the Constitution of the United States,” Moore said in a statement.

The lawsuit, filed in Federal District Court for the Northern District of Alabama, seeks a temporary hold and permanent injunction against Ivey and Harris “from issuing mandates which exceed their authority.”

Ivey’s press secretary Gina Maiola told a Birmingham-area Fox affiliate that it had not yet received the lawsuit.

“The governor is pleased with our state’s progress in terms of COVID-19 and reminds everyone to keep at it,” Maiola told the outlet.

Moore was the Republican nominee in the 2017 special election to replace then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions in the Senate, losing to Sen. Doug Jones (D-Ala.) He ran for the party nomination again in the 2020 primary but failed to make the runoff, which came down to Sessions and former Auburn University coach and eventual winner Tommy Tuberville.