The Pledge of Allegiance Law Essay Research Coursework

The Pledge of Allegiance
Name
Institutional Affiliation
Date
The Pledge of Allegiance
Case 1
Elk Grove Unified Sch. Dist. v. Newdow - 542 U.S. 1, 124 S. Ct. 2301 (2004)
Facts
Michael Newdow's daughter was among the students who attended a public school in the Elk Grove Unified School District in California. In Elk Grove, school days began with students reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, which includes the words "under God" based on the Congressional Act (1954). In March 2000, the father sued Elk Grove, citing that the Pledge of Alliance involved the words "under God", hence violating the establishment clause of the First Amendment (Brudvig, 2009). Being an atheist, the father contented that reciting the Pledge in public schools was unconstitutional in several ways/
The district court dismissed Newdow's claim citing lack of standing since he no longer had custody of the daughter. He and the mother of the daughter were divorced. The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit stated that the appellant had the standing to file a suit. It held that he had the standing to sue a policy that infringes his rights to protect and direct religious activities that his daughter engages in, citing that inclusion of the phrase 'under God" in the Pledge and its recitation in public schools are against the First Amendment's establishment clause. The United States Supreme Court took over the case after it was appealed on certiorari.
Issue
Whether Michael Newdow had the standing against the district school policy
Holding
It was held that the father had no standing to sue the district school policy.
Rule
The Supreme Court of the United States, under Article III standing, addresses controversial requirements and prudential standings of the constitution, as well as the limits of imposing standing jurisprudence. In this case, a favorable judgment occurs if only the appellant proves that the conduct of which he complains caused an "injury or damage."
Case 2
Jane Doe v. Acton-Boxborogh Regional School District - SJC–11317 (2014).
Facts
In this case, atheist parents and students filed a suit claiming that they were offended by simply hearing the phrase "under God" and the daily recitation of the Pledge violated their rights under the Massachusetts constitution (Alliance Defining Freedom, 2014). They sought court intervention to declare the daily recitation, especially in its current form, as a violation of their rights, at both statutory and constitutional levels. A Middlesex Superior Court had initially declared that the voluntary recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance did not violate the Plaintiff's equal protection rights under the Equal Rights Amendment, the School District's nondiscrimination policy, and the G.L. c. 76 (Section 5). The plaintiffs ap...