MONTGOMERY, Ala. (RNS) — Roy Moore, Alabama’s former chief justice, has formally appealed his state’s Court of the Judiciary ruling ousting him from office, saying his rights were violated because the court didn’t decide whether the federal court order Moore disobeyed was lawful.

The Court of the Judiciary should have heard Moore’s arguments that the federal order requiring his removal of a Ten Commandments monument was unlawful, and not doing so violated his due process rights, Moore’s lawyers said in written arguments filed Jan 8. with the state Supreme Court.

“The Court of the Judiciary’s crucial failure to distinguish between lawful and unlawful orders sets a dangerous precedent for all judicial officials in that, as a matter of judicial ethics, it requires obedience to all court orders, including those that are illegal and unethical,” the lawyers wrote.