New Challenge To "Under God" In Pledge Filed By Newdow As Attorney

In 2004, the U.S. Supreme Court held that atheist Michael Newdow, as a non-custodial parent, lacked standing to bring a case that challenged the inclusion of the phrase "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance recited each day in his daughter's school. Now, hoping to avoid standing issues, Newdow (who is a lawyer) has filed a suit in New Hampshire federal district court on behalf of a couple identified only as "Jan and Pat Doe," an atheist and an agnostic with three children in the Hanover, NH schools. Today's Nashua Telegraph reports that under New Hampshire law students can stand silently or remain seated instead of participating in the Pledge in school. However the suit claims that coercive peer pressure still exists. The complaint asserts that "by endorsing the religious notion that God exists, the now-religious Pledge creates a societal environment where prejudice against atheists -- and, thus, against Plaintiffs here -- is perpetuated." Plaintiffs do not object to required recitation of the pledge without the "under God" reference in it.