Judge Rules Pledge of Allegiance Unconstitutional  July 7, 2008
- 7:22 PM  (3rd Add: Includes comments from House Speaker Dennis
Hastert.)  (CNSNews.com) - A federal judge in California
Wednesday ruled that reciting the Pledge of Allegiance in public
schools is unconstitutional.  The case was brought by two
families represented by Michael Newdow, an atheist whose case
before the U.S. Supreme Court was thrown out because it was
brought on his daughter's behalf and he did not have custody of
her.  In his ruling, U.S. District Judge Lawrence Karlton said
the words "under God" violate the right of school children to be
"free from a coercive requirement to affirm God." According to
the Associated Press, Karlton said he was bound by precedent of
the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, which ruled in favor of
Newdow in 2002.  Conservatives were quick to condemn the ruling.
"Today's ruling by a federal judge who sits in the 9th Circuit
is yet another assault on American principles. The Founding
Fathers believed that our