This is getting a bit ridiculous. What else are we going to change about our nations heritage, constitution and basic foundations to satisfy complainers?
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Top Court Mulls Pledge of Allegiance Case
Fri Oct 31, 2:54 PM ET
By GINA HOLLAND, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court will decide soon if the California atheist who wants the words "under God" stripped from the Pledge of Allegiance can serve as his own lawyer when the court hears his case next year.
Dr. Michael Newdow is an attorney, and he has been writing and filing his own legal arguments so far. But he hasn't had his law license long enough to qualify for the Supreme Court Bar. Only members of that bar can stand before the justices during oral arguments, unless the court grants a waiver.
"It is a tribute to our system of law that any individual with sufficient desire can, by himself, ensure that our government remains true to its constitutional ideals," Newdow wrote to the court this week.
David Frederick, a Washington lawyer specializing in the Supreme Court, said Newdow's request for "pro se" status is unusual and the court may turn it down. Justices would not have to give any reason, and their decision would be final.
The court has allowed a few self-representations over the years. Newdow points out four in the past quarter-century.
"I suspect they would like to have a more dispassionate presentation," said Stephen Shapiro of Chicago, another Supreme Court expert. "But if the person is a lawyer and it's their own case, it may be difficult to say no."
Newdow says he's done a good job so far on his own, winning an appeals court decision that the Pledge of Allegiance in public schools is unconstitutional because of the reference to God.
Earlier this year, Newdow said in an interview that he wanted to argue the Supreme Court case himself and would object to the court tradition of beginning its daily session with "God save the United States and this honorable court."
In his filings, though, Newdow makes clear that he understands the court interest in ensuring lawyers who argue there follow the rules and show "an appropriate and respectful demeanor."
Newdow is a graduate of the University of Michigan law school, and he also has a medical degree.
He could find out as early as next week whether he can present his case in person.
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The Bush administration's Supreme Court lawyer, Theodore Olson, says he has no immediate plans to quit the job to return to more lucrative private practice.
Olson is solicitor general, a position sometimes referred to as the 10th justice because of its influence on the nine-member Supreme Court.
"I have made no plans for leaving my position as solicitor general. I regard it as a great privilege to hold this position, and take great pleasure from it," he said this week. "And I have made no decision regarding what I might do when I do leave."
The 63-year-old widower has been mentioned as a possible candidate for Supreme Court justice but no justices appear ready to give up their jobs either. It's been more than nine years since there was a vacancy on the court.
Olson's wife, Barbara, was killed in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
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Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg (news - web sites)'s patience may be wearing thin. After 10 years on the bench, lawyers arguing before the high court still occasionally call her by the name of the court's only other woman member, Justice Sandra Day O'Connor (news - web sites).
The mistake has happened so often over the years that Ginsburg has joked about it in speeches. She didn't sound very amused, however, during a recent address at the Philadelphia Bar Association.
"Perhaps some year soon, all lawyers who appear before the Supreme Court will fully comprehend that there are two of us, and will stop calling me Justice O'Connor," Ginsburg said.
Ginsburg's unspoken point was that nobody seems to have trouble remembering which one of the men is Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist and which one is, say, Justice David Souter (news - web sites), who sits a few seats away.
The latest gaffe came before the court's new term was a week old. Veteran Supreme Court lawyer Carter Phillips called Ginsburg by the wrong name during an oral argument Oct. 8.
-------------------------------
Top Court Mulls Pledge of Allegiance Case
Fri Oct 31, 2:54 PM ET
By GINA HOLLAND, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court will decide soon if the California atheist who wants the words "under God" stripped from the Pledge of Allegiance can serve as his own lawyer when the court hears his case next year.
Dr. Michael Newdow is an attorney, and he has been writing and filing his own legal arguments so far. But he hasn't had his law license long enough to qualify for the Supreme Court Bar. Only members of that bar can stand before the justices during oral arguments, unless the court grants a waiver.
"It is a tribute to our system of law that any individual with sufficient desire can, by himself, ensure that our government remains true to its constitutional ideals," Newdow wrote to the court this week.
David Frederick, a Washington lawyer specializing in the Supreme Court, said Newdow's request for "pro se" status is unusual and the court may turn it down. Justices would not have to give any reason, and their decision would be final.
The court has allowed a few self-representations over the years. Newdow points out four in the past quarter-century.
"I suspect they would like to have a more dispassionate presentation," said Stephen Shapiro of Chicago, another Supreme Court expert. "But if the person is a lawyer and it's their own case, it may be difficult to say no."
Newdow says he's done a good job so far on his own, winning an appeals court decision that the Pledge of Allegiance in public schools is unconstitutional because of the reference to God.
Earlier this year, Newdow said in an interview that he wanted to argue the Supreme Court case himself and would object to the court tradition of beginning its daily session with "God save the United States and this honorable court."
In his filings, though, Newdow makes clear that he understands the court interest in ensuring lawyers who argue there follow the rules and show "an appropriate and respectful demeanor."
Newdow is a graduate of the University of Michigan law school, and he also has a medical degree.
He could find out as early as next week whether he can present his case in person.
___
The Bush administration's Supreme Court lawyer, Theodore Olson, says he has no immediate plans to quit the job to return to more lucrative private practice.
Olson is solicitor general, a position sometimes referred to as the 10th justice because of its influence on the nine-member Supreme Court.
"I have made no plans for leaving my position as solicitor general. I regard it as a great privilege to hold this position, and take great pleasure from it," he said this week. "And I have made no decision regarding what I might do when I do leave."
The 63-year-old widower has been mentioned as a possible candidate for Supreme Court justice but no justices appear ready to give up their jobs either. It's been more than nine years since there was a vacancy on the court.
Olson's wife, Barbara, was killed in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
___
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg (news - web sites)'s patience may be wearing thin. After 10 years on the bench, lawyers arguing before the high court still occasionally call her by the name of the court's only other woman member, Justice Sandra Day O'Connor (news - web sites).
The mistake has happened so often over the years that Ginsburg has joked about it in speeches. She didn't sound very amused, however, during a recent address at the Philadelphia Bar Association.
"Perhaps some year soon, all lawyers who appear before the Supreme Court will fully comprehend that there are two of us, and will stop calling me Justice O'Connor," Ginsburg said.
Ginsburg's unspoken point was that nobody seems to have trouble remembering which one of the men is Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist and which one is, say, Justice David Souter (news - web sites), who sits a few seats away.
The latest gaffe came before the court's new term was a week old. Veteran Supreme Court lawyer Carter Phillips called Ginsburg by the wrong name during an oral argument Oct. 8.
