"Under God" Under Attack AgainMay 9, 2005 The Becket Fund Seeks Leave to Intervene in Suit Challenging the Constitutionality of Pledge of Allegiance The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty -- a nonpartisan, interfaith, public-interest law firm dedicated to protecting the free expression of all religious traditions -- filed a motion today in federal court to join and combat a lawsuit recently filed by Michael Newdow, an atheist taking his second swing at the phrase 'under God' in the Pledge of Allegiance. Newdow's first suit was dismissed by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2004 for lack of standing to sue.
The Becket Fund filed its motion to intervene and a memorandum in support of intervention on behalf of 11 California public school students, their parents, and approximately 1.7 million members of the Knights of Columbus in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California.
The Becket Fund brief explains that the students and parents are intervening in the case because "[a] determination regarding the constitutionality of the Pledge will directly impact the content of the education they receive from California's public schools and the way in which they declare their commitment to the ideals of their country reflected in the Pledge." "These students and parents are not willing to stand idly by while Mr. Newdow seeks to rewrite history and this nation's understanding of itself," said Derek Gaubatz, Director of Litigation for The Becket Fund. "They understand that from the Declaration of Independence on, our national ethos has always been that we have inalienable rights that the State cannot take away, because the source of those inalienable rights is an authority higher than the State. If saying this nation is 'under God' is unconstitutional, then so is reciting the Declaration of Independence, which refers to the Creator as the source of rights."
The Becket Fund's motion also seeks intervention in the suit on behalf of the Knights of Columbus. The Knights have a special and unique stake in preserving the present language of the Pledge. It was the Knights who, in 1951, first added the words 'under God' to the Pledge. In 1954, Congress responded to the Knights' recommendation and amended the Pledge to include the phrase 'under God.' This amendment, a measure taken at the height of the Cold War, was adopted by Congress to distinguish the inalienable nature of human rights in the United States from the Soviet philosophy that rights, such as they are, are conferred by the State.
"The government, whether state or federal, cannot usurp certain inalienable rights -- such as the fundamental freedoms of speech and religion -- since the government is not the source of those rights," noted Jared Leland, Media and Legal Counsel for The Becket Fund. "As one nation under God, the United States is a nation that respects the limits of government and the authority greater than it all. Newdow struck out once on procedural grounds. Now it's time to strike him out with a substantive pitch," Leland added. Resources & DocumentsRelevant Cases
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