Judge Rules Pledge Of Allegiance Unconstitutional

U.S. District Judge Lawrence Karlton in Sacramento, California, ruled today against the Pledge of Allegiance in public schools, says he will issue a restraining order to keep it out of three Sacramento-area school districts. The children of the people challenging the pledge go to those schools. A religious rights group, The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, says it will file an appeal to the San Francisco-based Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, and that it will most likely eventually wind up back at the Supreme Court. The appeals court ruled previously in a case filed by atheist Michael Newdow that the pledge is unconstitutional in public schools because of the words "under God." That case was dismissed by the Supreme Court, which ruled Newdow had no legal standing. Newdow, a doctor and a lawyer, filed the suit on behalf of the parents in the current case. He says, "We still have to get to the court of appeals and see if we prevail there." U.S. District Judge Lawrence Karlton