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FIRST-PERSON: The Supremes get it right


ALPHARETTA, Ga. (BP)–There is, after all, some sanity on the High Court in Washington, D.C.

And timing? What better day to display a common sense approach to a sticky constitutional issue about the Pledge of Allegiance than Flag Day? I can almost see Old Glory flying a little higher, puffing a little prouder in the breeze.

I know, some of you are saying it’s about time the Supreme Court got one right. Others are saying that they didn’t go far enough. We don’t want to win on a technicality, you’re thinking. Just declare the Pledge of Allegiance constitutional and let’s get on with it.

Not so fast. This is the right decision. We should be glad that the United States Supreme Court is finally paying attention to “technicalities” like standing. Allow me to explain.

The Supreme Court’s June 14 majority ruling in Elk Grove Unified School District v. Newdow did not come out and say that the phrase “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance is constitutional. Instead, the court simply ruled that the plaintiff, Michael Newdow, had no right to file suit and challenge the pledge. It ruled this way because Newdow was trying to file suit on behalf of his daughter, claiming that she shouldn’t be required to say the words “under God” as part of the pledge. Mr. Newdow claimed he had a constitutional right to raise her as an atheist.

The problem with Newdow’s argument is simply this: He isn’t raising his daughter. Instead, the child’s mother is raising her, and his daughter says she likes saying the pledge just as it is, thank you very much.

The liberal media will say the case was dismissed on a technicality. In fact, the case was dismissed because it was based on a lie by Newdow. Some think it would have been nice if the court had simply ignored this fact and issued an opinion supporting the pledge. I don’t agree. I say it’s about time the court decided that litigation is not a sport to be played by the ACLU or liberal lawyers trying to gain notoriety. Our courts are established to resolve real differences from people who are actually harmed. To claim that your daughter is being harmed by saying a Pledge of Allegiance that she likes saying is not a technicality. It’s a lie. To claim that you have a right to raise your child as an atheist, when the parent with legal custody wants to raise her as a Christian, is nonsense.

In a way, it’s too bad, because Chief Justice Rehnquist’s separate concurring opinion describing the religious roots of our country is one of the best I have ever seen. In it, he traces our Christian roots by highlighting dead-on quotes from Washington, Lincoln, Wilson, Franklin Roosevelt, Eisenhower, our national motto, the phrase the Court Marshall uses to start the Supreme Court (“God save the United States and This Honorable Court”) and the final verse of our national anthem.

Rehnquist concludes that, “From the time of our earliest history our peoples and our institutions have reflected the traditional concept that our Nation was founded on a fundamental belief in God.” He says that men like Newdow should not have a “heckler’s veto” to keep others from voluntarily participating in a patriotic ceremony just because that ceremony contains the words “under God.”

Great words, Mr. Chief Justice. Put that opinion in a drawer and keep it handy for the next time this issue comes before the court. But for now, it was unnecessary. Your colleagues got it right. Don’t dignify Mr. Newdow’s case by giving him an opinion on the merits, even if it is an unfavorable one.

Maybe the next ACLU lawyer will at least have a real case. Then you can dust off that opinion, get a few more of your friends on the court to join in (By the way, please tell Justice Scalia not to comment publicly before the next case is argued so he won’t have to recuse himself) and then slap that opinion on them so that generations of law students can study it as part of our constitutional law.
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Randy Singer is an award-winning author and attorney who serves as special assistant and chief counsel to the Southern Baptist Convention’s North American Mission Board. Additional columns by Singer on a variety of cultural issues are available at www.RandySinger.net.

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