Moore met with the Judicial Inquiry Commission as about 100 of his supporters, outside the federal courthouse, ripped and burned a copy of U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson's order.

Attorneys who sued to get the monument out of the rotunda, meanwhile, put their contempt filing against Moore on hold, now that Alabama Supreme Court associate justices have agreed to move the marker despite Moore's defiance.

Thompson ruled last year that the monument, installed by Moore in a highly visible public spot in the state building, violates the constitution's ban on government promotion of a religious doctrine. He said it could be moved to a private place in the building.

The monument remained in the rotunda Friday as court officials discussed where in the building the 5,300-pound granite marker could be moved and given proper security.

Leaving the inquiry commission meeting, Moore said he spoke briefly, explaining that he did not violate his oath of office by refusing to move the monument because the oath requires him to acknowledge God.

The commission, which did not issue an immediate ruling, could suspend Moore with pay and turn his case over to the Court of the Judiciary for a trial. If that court finds wrongdoing it could discipline Moore with anything from censure to removal from office.

Meanwhile, the around-the-clock vigil by Moore supporters continued in downtown Montgomery, with about 100 protesters moving from the steps of the judicial building to a sidewalk in front of the federal courthouse, where Thompson works. Some ripped to pieces and burned a copy of Thompson's ruling. Demonstrators also held a mock trial, in which Thompson was charged with breaking the law of God.

"We hold you, Judge Thompson, and the United States Supreme Court in contempt of God's law," said Flip Benham, director of the anti-abortion group Operation Rescue.

At the state judicial building, protesters have prayed, sung hymns, preached and kept an eye on the monument through the building's glass doors since Wednesday night, the deadline Thompson gave Moore to move the monument.

Inside the building, court officials were trying to determine where the monument would go and when it would be moved.

Ayesha Khan, an attorney for Americans United for Separation of Church and State, one of the groups seeking removal of the monument, said Thompson told the parties in a conference call Friday that he would schedule another conference call for late next week. She said plaintiffs would drop their request to hold Moore in contempt, or fine the state, if the monument is moved by then.

"Our concern all along has been compliance with the Constitution. Once the monument has been removed, our concerns will have been addressed," she said.

Khan said Attorney General Bill Pryor, speaking for the eight associate justices who overruled Moore, told Thompson that building officials were looking for the best location for the monument and considering security problems that might occur because of the ongoing demonstrations.

Thompson's order gave the option of moving the monument to Moore's office. But Khan said she asked Moore during a deposition about moving it to his office and he said the monument was too heavy.

An organizer of pro-Moore demonstrations, Patrick Mahoney of the Christian Defense Coalition, said Friday the demonstrations will continue.

"Our message is clear. We are going to peacefully block the way if they try to move it," Mahoney said.

One of the demonstrators, retired Birmingham school teacher Murray Phillips, said she knows the monument will probably be gone from the rotunda soon.

"I'm upset, but I'm not surprised. At least I am going to be able to say to my grandchildren that at least I tried to do something," Phillips said.

MONTGOMERY, Ala. - Chief Justice Roy Moore returned to the Alabama Judicial Building and spoke with its manager Friday, as supporters outside prayed that a Ten Commandments monument might remain in the rotunda, despite orders to move it.

Moore stood near the monument as he talked to building manager Graham George, who was instructed Thursday by the rest of the justices on the state's high court to carry out the removal. It wasn't known what was said.

Moore spent much of Thursday vowing to do everything within his power to keep the monument in place. His eight colleagues on the state Supreme Court had ordered the monument taken out after a federal judge's midnight removal deadline passed.

After entering the building Friday, Moore waved to 40 or so supporters but didn't come outside to meet them as they sang and prayed during a vigil kept from sleeping bags and bedrolls.

The Rev. Herman Henderson of Believers' Tabernacle in Birmingham opted to nap on the concrete with his head resting on sheet music for the song, "I Shall Not Be Moved."

They remained quiet throughout the night, prompting police to retreat to their post across the street.

U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson set the midnight deadline after deciding that sitting in the public rotunda, the monument violated the Constitution's ban on government promotion of a religious doctrine. Thompson has said it could be moved to a private place still within the building.

The judge had threatened $5,000-a-day fines if Moore left the monument in the rotunda.

Thompson was scheduled to have a conference call with attorneys in the case Friday. Lawyers suing to remove the monument also have filed a complaint with the state Judicial Inquiry Commission, alleging that Moore violated canons of judicial ethics by refusing to carry out a court order.

The commission, which was scheduled to meet Friday, can send a case to the Court of the Judiciary, which holds trials and has the power to discipline and remove judges. Judicial ethics cases usually take months.

George was instructed by the state's high court to "take all steps necessary to comply" with the federal court's removal order, justice Gorman Houston said. George declined to comment when asked when, how or where the monument would be moved.

Moore condemned his fellow judges for their orders. In their ruling, the Alabama justices stated they were "bound by solemn oath" to uphold the law.

"I will never deny the God upon whom our laws and country depend," Moore said Thursday in defending the 5,300-pound granite marker, which he installed two years ago and contends is representation of the moral foundation of American law.

"Not only did Judge Thompson put himself above the law, but above God as well," Moore told supporters.

The chief justice had appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court for an emergency stay of the removal order, but the court rejected it Wednesday. Moore said Thursday he would file a formal appeal with the high court soon "to defend our constitutional right to acknowledge God."

"I cannot forsake my conscience," he said.

Richard Cohen, an attorney for the Southern Poverty Law Center - which sued along with the American Civil Liberties Union and Americans United for Separation of Church and State - praised the eight justices.

"Their courageous actions reflect that Justice Moore is a disgrace to the bench and ought to resign or be removed from office," Cohen said.

Still, protesters outside the building said they were willing to stand in the heat and risk arrest for days or weeks to keep the monument inside. Twenty-one were arrested Wednesday night on trespassing charges.

Stephen Hopkins, pastor of Burnet Bible Church in Burnet, Texas, was one of those arrested. He said he was willing to be arrested even though he has 10 children.

"This is a great hypocrisy," Hopkins said. "This is an assault on God. They're saying we're going to cover up God."