American Legion To Fight For Pledge

WASHINGTON — With the Supreme Court announcement that it will decide in 2004 whether it is constitutional for public-school teachers to lead students in the Pledge of Allegiance because of the words “under God,” the nation’s largest veterans organization pledged its commitment to the legal battle. The 2.8 million-member American Legion is prepared to fight this at the highest judicial level for the right of public-school teachers and students to voluntarily observe the time-honored tradition.

“The heart of this case is about allowing the Constitution to appropriately reflect the intent of our republic’s founders and the values of the American people,” American Legion National Commander John Brieden said. “We believe our nation will be stronger when the courts let our Constitution protect the rights of all the people rather than merely the wrongs of a few people.

“The American Legion filed a friend-of-the-court brief in support of the constitutionality of the Pledge of Allegiance at the federal court in San Francisco. The American Legion is committed to take this fight all the way to the highest court in the land. Teachers leading students in the Pledge of Allegiance is as constitutional as “In God We Trust” stamped on our nation’s currency and reference to “God” in our oaths taken in our courts.”

“But this case is bigger than the Pledge, what is really at stake here is the moral direction of the nation. The right of the people to declare their patriotism by voluntarily reciting the Pledge is but one battle. The right of the Boy Scouts of America to select its leaders consistent with its founding principles is another battle. The right of the people to protect the U.S. flag from acts of physical desecration is a battle that the American Legion has been fighting since the Supreme Court in 1989 invalidated flag protection laws in 48 states; a constitutional amendment approved by the House and soon to come to a vote in the Senate is the remedy.”

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco ruled 2-1 in June 2002 that reciting the Pledge in public schools is unconstitutional. The court reaffirmed its decision in February, amending the ruling to say that “teacher-led” recitation of the Pledge is unconstitutional. The rulings came after Michael Newdow, an atheist .and father of an elementary school girl, filed the case against the United States, Congress, California and two school districts. Newdow’s daughter lives with her mother.

The daughter attends public school in Elk Grove, California, near Sacramento and according to reports regularly attends church. Newdow’s complaint alleged that, “his daughter is injured when she is compelled to `watch and listen as her state-employed teacher in her state-run school leads her classmates in a ritual proclaiming that there is a God and that ours is one nation under God.'”

In 1954, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed legislation inserting “under God” after the words “one nation.” The American Legion supported the addition. “We have full faith the court will uphold the right of the people as one nation under God,” Brieden said.