Ethics Newsline®

“When hard questions of domestic relations are sure to affect the outcome, the prudent course is for the federal court to stay its hand rather than reach out to resolve a weighty question of federal constitutional law.”

– U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, writing this week’s unanimous ruling upholding the inclusion of the phrase “one nation under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance. The ruling, which comes exactly 50 years after Congress inserted that phrase into the Pledge as a swipe against “godless communism,” sidestepped the entire question in front of the court: whether the added language implies an unconstitutional government endorsement of religion. Instead of deciding that issue, the Supreme Court overturned the case on a technicality, saying the lead plaintiff — a father in a protracted custody dispute with his ex-wife — lacked the legal standing to bring the case on behalf of his daughter. (“Supreme Court Preserves ‘God’ in Pledge,” AP, June 14)