Federal Appeals Court Upholds Use of the Word "God" in Currency & Pledge of Allegiance
On Thursday, a federal appeals court upheld the use of the phrase "In God We Trust" on U.S. currency and "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance, rejecting arguments that the phrases violate the separation of church and state.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals based in San Francisco rejected two legal challenges by atheist Michael Newdow of Sacramento. Newdow argued that the references to God are unconsitutional and infringe on his religious beliefs. The same court ruled in Newdow's favor in 2002 when it decided that the Pledge of Allegiance violated the First Amendment prohibition against government endorsement of religion.
George W. Bush, who was president at the time of the 2002 decision, called their decision "ridiculous". Senators then passed a resolution condemning the ruling, and Newdow received death threats. In 2004, Newdow's lawsuit reached the U.S. Supreme Court, but the court said that he lacked legal standing to file the suit because he didn't have custody of his daughter, on whose behalf he brought the case.
To get around this, Newdow filed an identical case on behalf of other parents who objected to reciting the pledge at school. In 2005, a Sacramento judge decided in Newdow's favor. This prompted the appeals court to take on the case.
In Thursday's ruling, Judge Carlos Bea, who was appointed by Bush in 2003, wrote for the majority in the 2-1 ruling. He said:
"The Pledge of Allegiance serves to unite our vast nation through the proud recitation of some of the ideals upon which our Republic was founded."
Judge Stephen Reinhardt, who had been a part of the three-judge panel that decided in Newdow's favor eight years ago, wrote a 123-page dissent to the 60-page majority opinion. He said:
"Under no sound legal analysis adhering to binding Supreme Court precedent could this court uphold state-directed, teacher-led, daily recitation of the 'under God' version of the Pledge of Allegiance by children in public schools."
Newdow said that he would ask the appeals court to rehear the case, and if that request is rejected, he says he will appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
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