The U.S. Supreme Court
Posted on 06/16/2011 12:46:14 PM PDT by NYer
.- On June 13, the Supreme Court ruled against atheist activist Michael Newdow's latest attempt to remove the words “under God” from the Pledge of Allegiance.
“Not surprisingly, the Supreme Court has again rejected the argument that saying the Pledge of your own free will creates an official state religion,” said attorney Eric Rassbach, litigation director at the religious liberty defense group the Becket Fund.
“The words 'one nation under God' make clear the bedrock American principle that our rights come not from the State, but are endowed by our Creator.”
On Monday, the Supreme Court rejected Newdow's appeal from the First Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston. Newdow had attempted to halt the ability of schoolchildren in Hanover, New Hampshire from reciting the Pledge voluntarily.
In March, the Supreme Court also rejected Newdow's appeal from a loss in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco.
In both cases, the non-profit Becket Fund for Religious Liberty and global Catholic fraternal organization the Knights of Columbus intervened in the lawsuits to help school children who want to recite the pledge.
The Knights of Columbus led the effort to add the phrase “under God” to the Pledge 55 years ago.
The Becket Fund said in its briefs filed in the First Circuit and the Ninth Circuit that there is a connection between the pledge and other statements like the Declaration of Independence and the Gettysburg Address. The briefs argue that each of those documents express the basic American philosophy that civil rights are inalienable because government does not create them.
Rassbach warned, however, that Newdow's latest attempt to remove the words “under God” may not be the last challenge to the pledge.
“Dr. Newdow has said that he will continue to challenge the pledge around the country, and we will be there to defend it,” he said.
They denied cert, so all we know is that there weren't four votes to hear the case.
Wow, I wish I could waste my whole life on a crusade against something.
Hopefully more meaningful though.
Wonder where he gets the money, time I think to go after the money. Hit’em where it hurts.
Omg. some people really have to much free time.
What a waste of time and tax money.
And i´m an atheist myself ;-)
“State Religion” means that the ruler or elected head of a country is the head of the Church in that country, and that is the official religion of that country. They also assess taxes to pay for the official church. Almost every country in the world has a state religion, except for us. We have never had a state religion, except for awhile Maryland had a state Catholic church, but the idea of the Pilgrims was to worship the way they wanted to, but they were all Christians, so that is how we got “Under God” in our Pledge. We are still mostly Christian, even today.
Francis Bellemy was not a conservative.
Even a commie is right sometimes.
I am surprised that no one has yet brought a suit on the “prevent the free exercise therof” clause.
How and why is this idiot not getting involved in Hanover, NH?
Newdow is such a hateful, spiteful man controlled by evil. May God in His mercy touch that man and make him realize his need to repent and be saved before it’s too late.
We had a feature on cable TV where we could throw virtual tomatoes at the TV screen. We hit Obama every chance we got! LOL Great fun.
As would we all! Way too much time on his hands. he should find a new hobby, like clay pottery in the arizona desert or something.
There were no recorded dissents, so it's fair to assume that no Justice wanted to hear the case.
if you keep using the courts to push the same personal agenda and keep losing at some point you should be responsible for ALL court costs.
There are all kinds of atheist countries that he can flee to escape from freedom. He can go to Cuba and get a ration of 16 eggs a month or Venezuela and be under the rule of the delightful Chavez. Too bad he missed out on Pol pot's regime, or Ceausescu's Romania. Maybe he could’ve been under Stalin's dictatorship.
I bet he'd go to one of those godless counties of the past if he had a time machine.
Too bad for him and all of America that he can't....
If this jerk lived in the Midwest or South, it would have happened already.
If you were to beat the crap out of this clown, the only thing left would be a pair of shoes.
I'm not sure where the court ever records and announces the votes on cert hearings. The orders that come out of the court only list the cases rejected, maybe mentioning that one justice or another did not take part in that decision.
Here's the actual order list from the Court. Newdow's case is "Freedom From Religion Foundation v. US"
There are sometimes recorded dissents from denial of cert. ("Justice X would have granted cert."), occasionally even accompanied by dissenting opinions, though there were none in today's order list.
What a non-story. When the Pledge is recited in my town, we vets add “under God” and keep right on going. The ones that didn’t look embarrassed.
I don’t beleive the pledge of Allegiance is an honest act.
Allegiance should be earned not given, and as such to make little kids who are by nature ignorant of the state of any goverment Pledge their Allegiance to that goverment is a kind to making drones out of otherwise free men.
It is like saying that the Government exist for its own sake and not for the sake of the people, cause it forces them people to pledge their unwavering Allegiance to itself.
No in a Free Republic Allegiance is earned not pledged.
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