MOTGOMERY, Ala — Supporters of suspended Chief Justice Roy Moore jammed the Alabama Judicial Building's plaza Aug. 28 for a prayer rally seeking return of the Ten Commandments monument to the building's rotunda, The Associated Press reported.

Moore wasn't among the more than 1,000 people who gathered. He said he did not want the attention focused on him instead of the public acknowledgement of God the monument represented.

"I don't want people to lose sight of what this is about," Moore said.

The Rev. James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family, was to speak to the crowd instead.

A federal judge ruled last year the monument violated the U.S. Constitution's so-called ban against government promotion of religion and ordered it be removed from public view.

Moore refused to comply with the order to move it, was overruled by his eight colleagues on the court and was suspended. The monument was wheeled out of sight Aug. 27. Moore said he hopes the U.S. Supreme Court will make a final ruling on the issue.

"What this issue is about is the acknowledgement of God and that issue has never been decided," he said.

In neighboring Mississippi, both Democratic Gov. Ronnie Musgrove and Republican gubernatorial candidate Haley Barbour said they want to take the monument if Alabama doesn't want it, the news service reported.

Musgrove said he would display it in the Capitol for a week and hoped other states would do likewise. Barbour said he'd like to have it for the governor's mansion.