On The Front Lines
Institute Expresses Disappointment Over U.S. Supreme Court's Dismissal of Pledge of Allegiance Case on Technicality
High Court Rules That Michael Newdow Does Not Have Legal Authority to Speak for DaughterIn response to the U.S. Supreme Court's dismissal on a technicality of Elk Grove Unified School District v. Newdow, John W. Whitehead, president of The Rutherford Institute, expressed disappointment that the Supreme Court chose to sidestep the issue rather than ruling on the weighty questions before the Court. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a California atheist cannot challenge the practice of schoolchildren reciting the phrase "one nation under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance, because he does not have the legal authority to speak for his daughter, who is a student in the Elk Grove School District. "America's founders recognized that our rights, as the Declaration of Independence states, are 'endowed by the Creator.' In fact, they staked their 'lives, [their] fortunes and their sacred honor' on that truth," stated Whitehead. "We had hoped that the Court would set the record straight once and for all by confirming 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. While we are pleased that this time-honored tradition can continue, The Rutherford Institute remains committed to standing in defense of the constitutionality of this practice should any future challenges arise."
Although the high court did not rule on the constitutionality of the phrase itself, Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist did issue a concurring opinion declaring that the pledge as recited by schoolchildren does not violate the Constitution. Justices Sandra Day O'Connor and Clarence Thomas agreed with Rehnquist's opinion. Attorneys for The Rutherford Institute filed a friend of the court brief with the U. S. Supreme Court on behalf of the Elk Grove Unified School District in Sacramento, Calif. In asking the U. S. Supreme Court to overturn the Ninth Circuit's ruling, Institute attorneys had asked the court to address the question of whether the phrase "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. Specifically, Institute attorneys had asked 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. For a PDF copy of the Institute's brief, click here.
This case arose after Michael Newdow, an atheist, objected to the pledge's acknowledgment that the United States of America is one nation "under God." As a result of its compliance with a California law that required schools to observe and lead willing students in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance prior to the beginning of the school day, the Elk Grove School District became the target of Michael Newdow's lawsuit. Arguing that his daughter, who attends the Elk Grove school, should not be subjected to hearing 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.
The Rutherford Institute is an international, nonprofit civil liberties organization committed to defending constitutional and human rights.
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