SUPREME COURT STRIKES DOWN NINTH CIRCUIT’S RULING AGAINST
THE PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
Public School Children May Continue to Say Pledge to “One Nation Under God”
Washington,
DC - The United States Supreme Court today refused to strike the phrase
“under God” from the Pledge of Allegiance. Upholding the daily recitation of
the Pledge by millions of American schoolchildren, the Court ruled that
atheist Michael Newdow did not have the right to bring the lawsuit because he
could not demonstrate that he is the legal guardian of his daughter’s rights.
The decision nullifies the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision in 2002
that the practice of leading willing schoolchildren in the Pledge of
Allegiance violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment by subtly
“coercing” schoolchildren into believing in God.
Elk Grove
Unified School District v. Michael A. Newdow arose when Michael A. Newdow, an
atheist whose daughter attends a public school, challenged the school
district’s daily practice of reciting the Pledge of Allegiance on the ground
that the practice violates the Establishment Clause of the United States
Constitution. A federal district court dismissed Mr. Newdow’s challenge, but
the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in Mr. Newdow’s favor.
The Christian
Legal Society’s Center for Law and Religious Freedom filed “friend of the
court” briefs in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and in the U.S. Supreme
Court. It was joined in its Supreme Court brief by the Center for Public
Justice, Concerned Women for America, and the Christian Educators Association.
In its briefs, the CLS Center argued that the phrase “under God” does not
violate the Establishment Clause by endorsing religion. Rather, the phrase
acknowledges that all individuals are "endowed by their Creator with certain
unalienable rights,” and it affirms the basis for the United States’ concept of
limited government.
Although
today’s decision was based upon procedural grounds rather than the
Constitutional issues involved in the case, Chief Justice William Rehnquist,
joined by Justices Sandra Day O’Connor and Clarence Thomas, wrote separately to
affirm the constitutionality of the Pledge. The Pledge of Allegiance, Rehnquist
said, is not an improper government-sponsored “religious exercise,” but “a
declaration of belief in allegiance and loyalty to the United States flag and
the Republic that it represents.” Examples of such “patriotic invocations of
God” abound in our nation’s history, Rehnquist declared.
“We are
thankful that the Court has removed doubt that government may affirm the fact
that inalienable rights come from God without violating the religious
neutrality that such rights impose upon government,” said Center Director Greg
Baylor. “The Framers knew that the ultimate basis for religious liberty, as
well as for all other inalienable rights, rests in the fact that individuals
are ‘endowed by their Creator’ with such rights, as stated in the Declaration
of Independence. We are hopeful that further legal challenges to the Pledge
will also prove futile.”
View Press Release on CLS Website
Christian Legal Society, a 42 year-old nationwide association
of Christian attorneys, law students, law professors, and judges,
established the Center for Law and Religious Freedom in 1975. The
Center is among the most respected voices in the religious liberty
arena.
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