Brief Filed For Congress Members Supporting National Motto

An amicus brief (full text) was filed yesterday by the American Center for Law and Justice in federal district court in Sacramento, California on behalf of 47 members of Congress in support of the government's request to dismiss a pending lawsuit filed by Michael Newdow challenging the constitutionality of the national motto, "In God We Trust." (See prior posting.) The release announcing the filing quotes this from the brief: "The Establishment Clause was never intended as a guarantee that a person will not be exposed to religion or religious symbols on public property, and the Supreme Court has rejected previous attempts to eradicate all symbols of this country's religious heritage from the public's view. Although enterprising plaintiffs can find support for just about any proposition in the Court's multifarious Establishment Clause pronouncements, a claim that the national motto violates the First Amendment borders on frivolous."