The Foundation for Moral Law, the non-profit founded by Judge Roy Moore, received more than $85,000 last year from the sale of specialty license plates, data from the Alabama Department of Revenue shows.
The tags feature a picture of a coiled snake with the words “Don’t Tread on Me,” below it, images and a message that comes from what’s known as the Gadsden Flag. The flag dates back to the American Revolution but is most currently used to symbolize efforts for civil liberties, particularly the Tea Party movement.
The tags first went on sale in 2014 after the Foundation met the requirement for 250 pre-commitments for the specialty plates. The specialty plates sell for $50; the foundation receives $41.25 of that cost.
In 2015, 1,260 tags were brought, earning $51,975 for the foundation. In 2016, that number increased to 1,836 for $75,735 in revenue. In 2017, 1,987 tags were sold for $81,963; by 2018, 2,075 purchased the tags bringing in $85,593.
According to the description of the tags, the money will be used the foundation’s “daily operations, defending the Constitution of the State of Alabama and the U.S. Constitution.”
The foundation was founded in 2003 by Moore, then Alabama’s Chief Justice, as a defense fund related to Moore’s refusal to remove a Ten Commandments monument from the Alabama judicial building. Moore was suspended that same year over the monument’s issue. He was reelected Chief Justice in 2013 but suspended and later resigned for defying the U.S. Supreme Court decision related to same-sex marriage.
Moore’s wife, Kayla, serves as president of the foundation.
The foundation routinely urges supporters to purchase the tags.