US pledge unconstitutional, says judge

AN atheist seeking to strike the words “under God” from the Pledge of Allegiance in public schools has won a major battle in his quest to force the US Supreme Court to take up the issue again.

US District Judge Lawrence Karlton sided with atheist Michael Newdow on Wednesday in ruling that the pledge’s reference to God violates the rights of children in three school districts to be “free from a coercive requirement to affirm God.”

Judge Karlton said he was bound by precedent of the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals, which in 2002 ruled in favour of Newdow that the pledge is unconstitutional when recited in public schools.