Deepa Bharath
NEWPORT-MESA -- Community members reacted with shock and disbelief at
a federal appeals court decision Wednesday that, for the first time ever,
declared the Pledge of Allegiance unconstitutional because of the words
"under God" added by Congress in 1954.
The ruling, if upheld, means schoolchildren can no longer recite the
pledge, at least in the nine Western states covered by the court. In a
2-1 decision, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeal said the phrase
amounts to a government endorsement of religion in violation of the
Constitution's Establishment Clause, which requires a separation of
church and state.
"A profession that we are a nation 'under God' is identical, for
Establishment Clause purposes, to a profession that we are a nation
'under Jesus,' a nation 'under Vishnu,' a nation 'under Zeus,' or a
nation 'under no god,' because none of these professions can be neutral
with respect to religion," Judge Alfred T. Goodwin wrote for the
three-judge panel.
The Establishment Clause refers to the beginning of the 1st Amendment
of the Constitution, which states, "Congress shall make no law respecting
an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof."
Richard Menees, associate rector at St. James Episcopal Church on Via
Lido in Cannery Village, said he is disappointed at the court's decision.
"If there is a God, trying to weed him out of existence in such public
matters is at best a poor joke," he said.
Menees said it was Congress that added the words "under God" to the
pledge 48 years ago.
"The pledge was modified by our majority government then," he said.
"That's how decisions are made in a democracy. Now it looks like we're
not being governed by the majority but by the courts."
The decision is "hardly surprising" given several past rulings on
similar issues, said Mary Ellen Gale, professor of constitutional law at
Whittier Law School in Costa Mesa.
"It definitely seems like an emotional and controversial issue to
many," she said. "But this ruling does fit comfortably with an existing
line of decisions."
The court made the right decision on the case because the Constitution
does uphold all citizens' right to freedom of religion, Gale said. The
decision will probably be upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court, she said.
"It could be a very close question, like the issue of prayer in
schools has been in the past," Gale said. "But, I hope, if it does go to
the Supreme Court, that they take it seriously because it is an important
issue."
