Supreme Court accepts Pledge of Allegiance case

CNN's summary is missing a very important "in-"; that is, the case involves whether schoolchildren can be compelled to recite the Pledge of Allegiance involuntarily, against the wishes of at least one of their parents.

I have a couple thoughts on this case. First, the case itself isn't exactly stellar; the parent suing doesn't have legal custody, so there is a standing question. Second, the First Amendment says "Congress shall make no law...", and even following incorporation doctrine, we're not talking about a congressional law mandating the recitation of the pledge.

However, compelling students to recite the pledge of allegiance (with or without "under God") is an offense against their ability to freely choose their loyalties without being indoctrinated by government. It is not appropriate for government, even in the form of a local school board, to require a loyalty oath from minors.

Posted on 2003-10-15 09:33:26.0 by matthew@triggerfinger.org

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