On The Front Lines
Rutherford Institute Attorneys Ask U. S. Supreme Court to Rule that 'Under God' in Pledge of Allegiance Does Not Violate Constitution
Institute Attorneys File Amicus Brief in Elk Grove School District v. Michael A. NewdowWASHINGTON, D.C.--Attorneys for The Rutherford Institute have petitioned the U. S. Supreme Court to address the question of whether the phrase "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. In filing a friend of the court brief on behalf of the Elk Grove Unified School District in Sacramento, Calif., Institute attorneys have requested that the June 2002 ruling issued by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals be overturned.
As a result of its compliance with a California law that required schools to observe and lead students in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance prior to the beginning of the school day, the Elk Grove School District became the target of a lawsuit filed by Michael Newdow, an atheist, who objected to the pledge's acknowledgment that the United States of America is one nation "under God." Arguing that his daughter should not be subjected to the recitation of the pledge, Newdow sued the schools for what he claimed was an unconstitutional endorsement of religion. Despite the Elk Grove School District's claim that the recitation of the pledge was voluntary for students and provided them with an opportunity to reflect upon America's history, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against the school, declaring that the use of the pledge in public schools violates the Constitution and amounts to a government endorsement of religion. In asking the U. S. Supreme Court to review the case, Rutherford Institute attorneys pointed out that the Ninth Circuit's holding explicitly rejects the precedent of thirteen Supreme Court Justices in four Supreme Court cases that state the Pledge of Allegiance is constitutionally permissible. The brief asks the court to present a clear vision of the Establishment Clause that would permit state education officials to recognize in public ceremonies and patriotic practices the theistic origin of the American conception of rights.
"America's founders not only recognized what the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals seeks to deny--that our rights, as the Declaration of Independence states, are 'endorsed by the Creator'--they staked their 'lives, [their] fortunes and their sacred honor' on that truth," stated John W. Whitehead, president of The Rutherford Institute. "It has fallen to this Court to set the record straight and confirm the unequivocal affirmation of thirteen Supreme Court Justices across four decades that state-led recitation of 'under God' in the Pledge of Allegiance does not violate the Establishment Clause."
The Rutherford Institute is an international, nonprofit civil liberties organization committed to defending constitutional and human rights.
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