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Developments in Newdow's "Under God" Pledge Lawsuit
Via NY Transfer News Collective All the News that Doesn't Fit
AP via The Boston Globe - Dec 8, 2007
http://www.boston.com/news/local/ne...ers_fight_lawsuit_over_nh_pledge_requirement/
School may let others fight lawsuit over N.H. pledge requirement
HANOVER, N.H. --School officials may let others fight the
constitutional questions raised by federal lawsuit over a New Hampshire
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.
On Friday, the Hanover School Board, Dresden School Board and School
Administrative Unit 70 met to discuss the lawsuit and whether to leave
the constitutional questions for the other defendants in the case:
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 of Norwich. 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."
An anonymous Hanover family filed the lawsuit on Oct. 31 in U.S.
District Court in Concord. "Jan and Pat Doe," as they are called in
court documents, say their three children's rights have been violated
by the recitation of the pledge because it includes the words "under
God." The lawsuit says the children are atheists or agnostics. The
family is remaining anonymous because the parents fear retribution, say
other plaintiffs in the case.
The other plaintiffs are Michael Newdow, a California physician and
attorney who has fought for years to strip 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 said that if he prevails in that
case, he'll put the New Hampshire case on hold. Newdow 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 in the case.
The state Attorney General's Office is aware of the case and
anticipates being involved, though the state's role isn't clear yet,
said Nancy Smith, a senior assistant attorney general.
=================================================================
NY Transfer News Collective A Service of Blythe Systems
Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us
Our main website: http://www.blythe.org
List Archives: http://blythe-systems.com/pipermail/nytr/
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Hash: SHA1
Developments in Newdow's "Under God" Pledge Lawsuit
Via NY Transfer News Collective All the News that Doesn't Fit
AP via The Boston Globe - Dec 8, 2007
http://www.boston.com/news/local/ne...ers_fight_lawsuit_over_nh_pledge_requirement/
School may let others fight lawsuit over N.H. pledge requirement
HANOVER, N.H. --School officials may let others fight the
constitutional questions raised by federal lawsuit over a New Hampshire
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.
On Friday, the Hanover School Board, Dresden School Board and School
Administrative Unit 70 met to discuss the lawsuit and whether to leave
the constitutional questions for the other defendants in the case:
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 of Norwich. 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."
An anonymous Hanover family filed the lawsuit on Oct. 31 in U.S.
District Court in Concord. "Jan and Pat Doe," as they are called in
court documents, say their three children's rights have been violated
by the recitation of the pledge because it includes the words "under
God." The lawsuit says the children are atheists or agnostics. The
family is remaining anonymous because the parents fear retribution, say
other plaintiffs in the case.
The other plaintiffs are Michael Newdow, a California physician and
attorney who has fought for years to strip 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 said that if he prevails in that
case, he'll put the New Hampshire case on hold. Newdow 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 in the case.
The state Attorney General's Office is aware of the case and
anticipates being involved, though the state's role isn't clear yet,
said Nancy Smith, a senior assistant attorney general.
=================================================================
NY Transfer News Collective A Service of Blythe Systems
Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us
Our main website: http://www.blythe.org
List Archives: http://blythe-systems.com/pipermail/nytr/
Subscribe: http://blythe-systems.com/mailman/listinfo/nytr
=================================================================
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