Supreme Court likely to take up pledge case

09/27/05 -- A federal judge ruled in favor of atheist Michael Newdow Sept. 14, stating that three school districts in California can no longer require students to cite the words “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance.

The ruling means the Supreme Court likely will have to resolve the contentious issue of whether the recitation of the  phrase in public schools violates the First Amendment’s prohibition of government endorsement of religion.

U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales announced that the Justice Department would support an appeal in favor of allowing schools to continue to have students recite the pledge as is.

The fact that another appeals court issued a contradictory opinion makes it all the more likely that the Supreme Court will hear the case. In August, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a Virginia law requiring public schools to have students recite the pledge every day.

In the current ruling, U.S. District Judge Lawrence Karlton ruled that the phrase violates the rights of students to be “free from a coercive requirement to affirm God.” Karlton said he was bound by the precedent set by the 9th U.S. Appeals Court, which agreed with Newdow’s argument in 2002 that requiring public school students to recite the pledge is unconstitutional.

Newdow would like to see the pledge restored to its original wording, before the phrase “under God” was added in 1954.

The U.S. Supreme Court took up the case last year, but the Court dismissed it on procedural grounds. Newdow had filed the suit on behalf of his daughter, who attended elementary school in the Elk Grove (Calif.) Unified School District. According to the Court, Newdow didn’t have legal standing to sue on behalf of his daughter, because he was not the custodial parent.

In the current case, Newdow filed suit on behalf of three unnamed parents and their children, who attend schools in the Elk Grove, Rio Linda Union School District, and Elverta Joint Elementary School District, all in Sacramento County.

Karlton agreed to sign a restraining order barring the recitation of the pledge, with the words, “under God,” in these districts. If the 9th Circuit affirms the decision, the ruling would apply to the nine Western states in that court’s jurisdiction.

The Elk Grove Unified School District expressed disappointment in the ruling. “Our board has long supported the Pledge of Allegiance as an appropriate patriotic exercise for willing students,” says Superintendent Steven M. Ladd.

The California School Boards Association urged the court system to resolve the issue once and for all. “CSBA continues to believe very strongly that the Pledge of Allegiance -- as it stands -- is an important exercise in patriotism and civics,” says Executive Director Scott Plotkin.

When John Roberts, President Bush’s nominee to be chief justice of the Supreme Court, was asked about the pledge ruling during his confirmation hearings, Roberts said the Court’s rulings on church and state issues “could be clearer.”