Thursday, October 16, 2003
Supreme Court Accepts Pledge of Allegiance Case
The nation's highest court will now decide whether public schoolchildren can say the entire Pledge of Allegiance, including the words "under God."
The U.S. Supreme Court has accepted a case which will determine whether it is constitutional for children in America's classrooms to recite the Pledge of Allegiance and its acknowledgment of the United States as "one nation under God."
The case, an appeal of the controversial 9th U.S. Circuit court of Appeals ruling declaring the Pledge unconstitutional — carries huge implications, according to Jordan Lorence, a senior attorney at the Alliance Defense Fund: "The issue is: When a teacher, who is a state governmental actor, is leading willing students in saying the Pledge of Allegiance, is that still unconstitutional, because they're saying 'under God?'"
Jay Sekulow, chief counsel of the American Center for Law and Justice, agreed that the issues raised in the case are profound.
"If the acknowledgement of God in the Pledge of Allegiance is deemed to be the establishment of religion, then our national motto 'In God We Trust,' and a whole host of other expressions that deal with our religious heritage, would be at risk, as well," Sekulow said.
Richard Thompson, who heads the Thomas More Law Center, said the outcome of the case is critical.
"If we can't say the Pledge of Allegiance in school, then we are going down that slippery slope where generations from now, we will not know what our Christian heritage is," Thompson said.
Lorence said the case may cause Americans to consider how delicate the balance of power is within the federal government is. He even coined a term for the situation.
"(The case will determine) whether our whole system of representative government is being undermined by some sort of judicial tyranny, a 'judocracy,' where we're ruled by judges," he explained.
The high court decision will be a guide for others in both the federal and state judiciaries, but it will be early summer before a ruling is issued.
According to poll after poll, most Americans not want the Pledge of Allegiance recited in public schools.
Permalink
