UPDATE: Suspended Chief Justice Running for US Senate Seat

Suspended Alabama Chief Justice and gay marriage opponent Roy Moore says he is running for U.S. Senate.

The outspoken conservative announced Wednesday he will seek the Senate seat previously held by Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

The fiery Republican jurist joins what’s expected to be a crowded GOP primary field in the Aug. 15 primary.

A state judicial discipline panel in September permanently suspended Moore. The panel said Moore had urged state probate judges to defy federal court rulings that said that gays and lesbians have a fundamental right to marry. The Alabama Supreme Court upheld his suspension. Moore denied he did anything wrong.

Moore was also removed as chief justice in 2003 for disobeying a federal judge’s order to remove a Ten Commandments monument from the state’s judicial building.

Governor Kay Ivey officially appointed Justice Lyn Stuart as Chief Justice of Alabama Supreme Court. She had been acting Supreme Chief Justice while Moore was suspended.

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