Pledge of Allegiance in Schools Ruled Constitutional (Update1)
By Joel Rosenblatt and Karen Gullo
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aVwtVb7Pg9g0
March 11 (Bloomberg) -- Reciting the Pledge of Allegiance with its reference to God in public schools doesn’t violate the U.S. Constitution’s separation of church and state, a federal appeals court ruled.
The U.S. Court of Appeals in San Francisco disagreed with Michael Newdow, an atheist who sued a school district near Sacramento, California, challenging the use of the phrase “under God” in the pledge.
“We hold that the Pledge of Allegiance does not violate the establishment clause because Congress’ ostensible and predominant purpose was to inspire patriotism,” the court said it today’s decision. “For this reason, the phrase ‘one nation under God’ does not turn this patriotic exercise into a religious activity.”
The court reversed an injunction that had prohibited recitation of the pledge at the district’s schools.
In a separate case brought by Newdow, the appeals court ruled today that printing the motto “In God We Trust” on U.S. currency and coins is also constitutional.
Newdow first sued the school district over the pledge in 2000. The U.S. Supreme Court in 2004 reversed a decision from the appeals court in Newdow’s favor in that case, ruling he lacked the right to sue. He sued a second time along with a student in the school system, winning in the district court after arguing his own case.
Patriotic Exercises
Justice Department lawyers had argued that previous Supreme Court decisions permit patriotic exercises such as the Declaration of Independence and the national anthem.
In Newdow’s first lawsuit, the Bush administration defended the use of the phrase “one nation under God,” claiming it acknowledged the role that faith played in the founding of the country.
Newdow didn’t immediately return voice-mail and e-mail messages seeking comment.
The pledge was adopted by Congress in 1942 without the “under God” reference. A year later, in a case involving Jehovah’s Witnesses, the Supreme Court ruled public schools can’t require children to recite the pledge. In 1954, Congress voted to add the reference to God, citing a need to “deny the atheistic and materialistic concepts of communism.”
The Pledge of Allegiance case is Newdow v. U.S. Congress, 06-16344, and the motto case is Newdow v. Rio Linda Union School District, 05-17257, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (San Francisco).
To contact the reporters on this story: Joel Rosenblatt in San Francisco at [email protected]; Karen Gullo in San Francisco at [email protected].
Last Updated: March 11, 2010 14:09 EST