Court: Allegiance Pledge 'Unconstitutional'
June 26 -- A federal appeals court today ruled the Pledge of Allegiance is unconstitutional because of the words "under God," which were added by Congress in 1954.
In a 2-1 decision, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, based in San Francisco, said the reference to God violated the First Amendment's Establishment Clause, which requires a separation of church and state.
"A profession that we are a nation 'under God' is identical, for Establishment Clause purposes, to a profession that we are a nation 'under Jesus,' a nation 'under Vishnu,' a nation 'under Zeus,' or a nation 'under no god,' because none of these professions can be neutral with respect to religion," Judge Alfred T. Goodwin wrote for the three-judge panel.
The effect of the court's decision is not immediate. The government will have several months to ask the court to reconsider its decision, or appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
The decision stunned lawmakers. Within hours, the Senate approved 99-0 a resolution in support of the Pledge of Allegiance. Lawmakers also instructed their legal counsel to intervene and defend the constitutionality of the pledge.
The Pledge of Allegiance was codified by Congress in 1942 as: "I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."
In 1954, it was changed to read: "I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."
An ‘Unacceptable Choice’ Between Participating and Protesting
In its ruling, the court said the U.S. Supreme Court has said students cannot hold religious invocations at graduations and cannot be compelled to recite the pledge. But being forced to listen to others make the pledge creates an "unacceptable choice between participating and protesting," the appeals court said.
"Although students cannot be forced to participate in recitation of the pledge, the school district is nonetheless conveying a message of state endorsement of a religious belief when it requires public school teachers to recite, and lead the recitation of, the current form of the pledge," the court said.
