"Under God" Case in Massachusetts Supreme Court

Secular Coalition for America President, David Niose Wednesday presented oral arguments to the Massachusetts Supreme Court, as the attorney for the plaintiff in the case "Doe v. Acton-Boxborough Regional School District." The case challenges a state law that requires daily school-sponsored and teacher-led classroom recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance. Niose, on behalf of his client, argued that the wording "under God" in the Pledge discriminates against atheists and other nonbelievers, by instilling and defining patriotism according to a god belief.

This is a groundbreaking case for atheists and humanists, in part because it is the first in the nation to assert the rights of nonbelievers solely via Equal Protection and nondiscrimination-normally these cases are dealt with under the First Amendment. The Equal Protection clause was cited in Brown vs. Board of Education (1954) to fight racial discrimination, and has also been the basis for many other decisions rejecting discrimination against people belonging to various groups. The Secular Coalition for America's Director of Federal and State Affairs, Kelly Damerow (pictured below, right) was on-site at the courthouse with Niose after the oral arguments. Secular Coalition for Massachusetts co-chairs Zachary Bos and Ellery Schempp organized a rally outside of the courthouse yesterday morning in support of the case. View Niose's oral arguments, as well as case docket and briefs here.