Will Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore Be Booted from the Bench?

Alabama's chief justice is in court Wednesday, answering accusations that he tried to keep gay couples from marrying in the state.

Chief Justice Roy Moore is accused of telling Alabama's 68 probate judges to refuse marriage licenses to gay couples, an accusation Moore denies. He said he never told probate judges what they should do.

The charges against Moore come from a January administrative order he sent probate judges. Moore said that a prior Alabama Supreme Court order to refuse marriage licenses to gay couples had not been lifted and remained in "full force and effect."

Moore's attorney, Mat Staver, said the chief justice told the judges he could not offer them advice on what to do. Staver added that the judges were asking because the Alabama Supreme Court had not lifted the order after suggesting they would make a decision.

A nine-member judicial panel will determine if Moore's January memo was in defiance of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling on same-sex marriage.

Moore could be removed from office if the court finds that he violated the state's judicial ethics.