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Justice Dept. asks Supreme Court to rule on pledge
« on: May 1st, 2003, 8:46am » |
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Justice Dept. asks Supreme Court to rule on pledge
Wednesday, April 30, 2003 Posted: 8:33 PM EDT (0033 GMT)
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Justice Department on Wednesday urged the U.S. Supreme Court "to reaffirm the right of Americans to recite voluntarily the Pledge of Allegiance."
A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, based in San Francisco, California, ruled 2-1 last June that public schools could not conduct class recitations of the pledge because the words "under God" would violate the constitutional clause preventing government establishment of religion.
"Two decisions of the Supreme Court have said without qualification that the pledge is constitutional," the Justice Department said in Wednesday's written statement. "No justice has expressed any other view. Schools across America, and hundreds of thousands of school children, have relied on the Supreme Court's repeated assurances as they have started their day with the pledge.
"Our religious heritage has been recognized and celebrated for hundreds of years in the national motto ("In God we trust"), National Anthem, Declaration of Independence, and Gettysburg Address. As the court has ruled again and again, our government and people can acknowledge the important role religion has played in America's foundation, history and character. The Justice Department will vigorously defend our nation's heritage and our children's ability to recite the pledge."
The Supreme Court could decide by the end of its term in late June whether it will hear the appeal, according to Reuters. If it does agree to decide the case, arguments would be held in the court's term that begins in October.
The appeals court at the end of February reaffirmed its ruling that the pledge was unconstitutional, Reuters reports. It was a defeat for the Justice Department, state of California and the school district, which all asked the appeals court to reconsider its ruling.
The Circuit Court placed a stay on its order pending an appeal by the school district named in the lawsuit, Elk Grove.
Without the stay, public schools in the Western states in the 9th Circuit would not have been able ask students to recite the pledge with the words "under God" beginning March 10. The 9th Circuit includes Alaska, Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada, Idaho, Montana and Hawaii.
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