Supreme Court
Reverses Pledge Case: School Children Can Still Recite the Pledge!
ANN ARBOR, MI: The United States Supreme Court
released its opinion in the controversial Pledge of Allegiance case
this morning, holding that atheist Michael Newdow did not have proper
legal standing to bring the lawsuit on behalf of his elementary school
daughter. In so doing, the Court sidestepped the question whether the
patriotic oath violated the Establishment Clause of the Constitution
because of the phrase "one nation, under God."
As a result of this morning's decision, millions of
schoolchildren across the country will be allowed to continue the
practice of beginning their day by reciting the Pledge.
Today's ruling overturns a U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals
decision two years ago that held it is unconstitutional for school
children to recite the Pledge. Justice Stevens writing for the Court
stated, "When hard questions of domestic relations are sure to affect
the outcome, the prudent course is for the federal court to stay its
hand rather than reach out to resolve a weighty question of federal
constitutional law." Newdow is involved in a protracted custody battle
with his daughter's mother in the California state courts.
Commenting on today's decision, Richard Thompson, Chief Counsel of the
Law Center said,
"Because the Court avoided deciding the
Pledge case on its merits, the ACLU and other anti-religious
organizations will undoubtedly find a new plaintiff to again
challenge the Pledge. The Thomas More Law Center stands ready to
defend at no charge any school district so sued."
Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, joined by
Justices Sandra Day O'Connor and Clarence Thomas, concurred in the
result, but wrote separately to explain that it is constitutional for
public school students to recite the phrase "under God" while saying
the Pledge.
The Thomas More Law Center
and its Western Regional Office in Rancho Santa Fe, California, filed
a friend of the court brief in the Supreme Court supporting the Pledge
on behalf of the Law Center's members and the Catholic League for
Religious and Civil Rights.
(from Jen:
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