New Hampshire school districts may let others challenge state law requiring Pledge of Allegiance
School officials in some New Hampshire school districts may let others fight the constitutional questions raised by federal lawsuit over a state law requiring time be set aside for the Pledge of Allegiance. The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in Concord in October by an unidentified Hanover family, a California man and a Wisconsin group who object to the reference to God in the oath. The Hanover School Board, Dresden School Board and School Administrative Unit 70 have met to discuss the lawsuit and whether to leave the constitutional questions for the other defendants: Congress and the U.S. government. “Our goal is to get out as quickly as we can, spending as little as we can,” said Dresden board member Geoffrey Vitt. A lawyer, he said defense costs could quickly reach hundreds of thousands of dollars. Dresden Chairman Robert Bruce said the schools should focus on a 2002 New Hampshire law that says schools should authorize a time during the school day for recitation of the Pledge. Participation is voluntary. “The school boards can't resolve the important constitutional law questions, and we can't amend the pledge,” Bruce said. “What we can do is make sure we are following the New Hampshire Patriot Act.” The other plaintiffs are Michael Newdow, a California physician and attorney who has fought for years to eliminate the phrase “under God” from the pledge, and the Freedom From Religion Foundation of Madison, Wis. Newdow has another challenge to the pledge pending before a federal appeals court in California and has indicated that if he prevails in that case, he'll put the New Hampshire case on hold. He won a similar case before the same court, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, in 2002 but lost on appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court two years later. Vitt and Bruce suggested letting the U.S. Department of Justice, attorneys for Congress and the New Hampshire Attorney General's Office make the constitutional arguments. The state Attorney General's Office is aware of the case and anticipates being involved, though the state's role isn't clear yet, a senior assistant attorney general said.
Boston Globe By Associated Press
[Editor’s Note: Information on Dr. Newdow’s suit is available starting below.]
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