From the majority opinion:
“We are called upon to decide whether the teacher-led recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, by students in public schools constitutes an establishment of religion prohibited by the United States Constitution. We hold it does not; the Pledge is Constitutional.”
The full 193 page decision is found here.
The 9th Circuit also today found the National Motto “In God We Trust” constitutional. That decision is here.
Ever-hopeful atheist Michael Newdow, who brought these cases, could appeal to a larger 9th Circuit panel of judges called an “en banc” panel, or directly to the Supreme Court. I don’t look for him to have any success in either venue.
The 9th Circuit’s biggest liberal, Stephen Reinhardt, dissented in the Pledge case and would have also in the Motto case if the 9th Circuit hadn’t previously ruled on that very issue. But he made it clear he thinks both decisions are wrong. We’ll talk more about him and pending 9th Circuit nominee Professor Goodwin Liu as birds of a feather in an upcoming post.
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http://twitter.com/kevinjjones Kevin J Jones
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Bruce
