The recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance in public schools has now been deemed unconstitutional:
U.S. District Judge Lawrence Karlton ruled that the pledge's reference to one nation "under God" violates school children's right to be "free from a coercive requirement to affirm God." Karlton said he's bound by precedent set by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, which ruled in 2002 that it was unconstitutional for the Pledge to be recited in public schools.The Supreme Court threw out that case, ruling that Sacramento atheist Michael Newdow had no standing to bring the legal action. Newdow objected to the words "under God" in the pledge. Newdow brought the second case to the federal court -- this time, representing unidentified parents and their children.
I'm no lawyer, or expert on legal opinions, but plenty of bloggers are.
Instapundit: "Karl Rove must have arranged this."
Jim Lindgren: "One shouldn’t confuse what should or shouldn't be in the Pledge with the question whether mandating the Pledge enacts a state religion. It obviously doesn’t."
Eugene Volokh: "Whatever you think of the merits (remember, I'm talking here about the politics, not the merits), the public seems solidly against courts' striking down the saying of the "under God" Pledge in public schools...highlighting this issue in the public's mind thus helps strengthen the case for conservative [Supreme Court] nominees."
Eugene Volokh (again): "Students aren't legally required to say any of the pledge, but the theory, which has pretty substantial foundations in the Supreme Court's precedents, is that they are in any event psychologically coerced, since omitting the 'under God' will expose them to opprobrium from their peers."
ScotusBlog: "A federal judge in Sacramento...ruled that it violates the rights of public school children in three California districts for students to recite the Pledge of Allegiance every day -- so long as the phrase "under God" is included. The judge did not strike down the Pledge with that phrase in it, but merely barred its recital in the three districts."
Howard Bashman: "Here we go again...I predict that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit will disagree with U.S. District Judge Lawrence K. Karlton's decision...Of course, if I am incorrect, then public schools within the nine States and two Territories located within the Ninth Circuit should no longer be reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. "
Parents, what's your opinion?
Posted by kswygert at September 15, 2005 12:14 PM