Elk Grove Unified School District v. Newdow
Case Date: 07/10/2025
Court: United States Court of Appeals
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Newdow v. United States Congress, Elk Grove Unified School District, et al., 542 U.S. 1 (2004), was a lawsuit originally filed in 2000 which led to a 2002 ruling by the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit that the words "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance are an endorsement of religion, and therefore violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. The case was heard by the U.S. Supreme Court, as Elk Grove Unified School District v. Newdow.
On June 14, 2004, the Supreme Court held Michael Newdow, as a non-custodial parent, did not have standing to bring the suit on his daughter's behalf. The mother was previously given sole custody of the daughter. The Ninth Circuit's decision was thus reversed as a matter of procedural law.
Thus, the Court also did not consider the constitutional question raised by the case.
On January 3, 2005, a new suit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California on behalf of three unnamed families. On September 14, 2005, District Court Judge Lawrence Karlton ruled in favor of Newdow. Citing the precedent of the 2002 ruling by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Judge Karlton issued an Order stating that, upon proper motion, he will enjoin the school district defendants from continuing their practices of leading children in pledging allegiance to "one Nation under God."[1] The case was later appealed to the Ninth Circuit under Newdow v. Carey and has received a judgment.
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