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The Supreme Court rejected a case Monday brought by an atheist who wanted to scrub “In God We Trust,” the U.S. motto, from the nation’s currency, claiming it was an entanglement of state and religion. Michael Newdow, an activist who previous challenged reciting the Pledge of Allegiance in schools, had set his sights on money, but lost at the district, circuit and now Supreme Court levels. On behalf of a group of atheists, Mr. Newdow argued America’s money lacked an reference to God until 1864, when it was added in. He said that amounted to an endorsement of religion.

An atheist woman seeking citizenship in Massachusetts is suing to remove the phrase “so help me God” from the United States citizenship oath. Olga Paule Perrier-Bilbo, a French national who has lived in the U.S. since 2000 with a green card, says that the inclusion of the phrase is an unconstitutional violation of her religious freedom. Her lawyer, Michael Newdow, drew attention for a similar Supreme Court case in 2004, when he argued that the Pledge of Allegiance should be rewritten to omit “under God.”

The U.S. Supreme Court Washington D.C., Jun 16, 2011 / 06:08 am (CNA).- On June 13, the Supreme Court ruled against atheist activist Michael Newdow's latest attempt to remove the words “under God” from the Pledge of Allegiance.“Not surprisingly, the Supreme Court has again rejected the argument that saying the Pledge of your own free will creates an official state religion,” said attorney Eric Rassbach, litigation director at the religious liberty defense group the Becket Fund. “The words 'one nation under God' make clear the bedrock American principle that our rights come not from the State, but are endowed...

The Supreme Court is brushing aside an atheist's challenge to religion in government, refusing to hear a complaint about President Barack Obama adding "so help me God" to his inaugural oath of office. The high court on Monday refused to hear an appeal from Michael Newdow, who argued that government references to God are unconstitutional and infringe on his religious beliefs. Many presidents have added "so help me God" to the oath.

Atheist activist Dr. Michael Newdow announced on his website that after 6 years of litigation in federal courts, his constitutional challenge to the Pledge of Allegiance in California public schools is “over.” Newdow indicated for “reasons that are best not divulged” that he would not appeal the case to the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court won't hear an atheist's latest challenge to the U.S. government's references to God. The court on Monday refused to hear an appeal from Michael Newdow, who says government references to God are unconstitutional and infringe on his religious beliefs.

(CNSNews.com) - The self-professed atheist who failed to get the Supreme Court to declare unconstitutional the phrases “One Nation Under God” (in the Pledge of Allegiance) and “So Help Me God” (in the presidential oath of office) is not giving up on his effort. California attorney and physician Michael Newdow filed a petition with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on Wednesday requesting an en banc (full panel) re-hearing of Newdow v. Roberts – the lawsuit Newdow filed to try to stop Chief Justice John Roberts from using the phrase "so help me God" when...

Washington (CNN) -- Public schools in Western states can continue teacher-led reciting of the Pledge of Allegiance, after a federal court ruled against a group of atheist parents. The 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, based in San Francisco, California, ruled 2-1 Thursday that the pledge does not represent a government endorsement of religion, prohibited by the Constitution. "The Pledge of Allegiance serves to unite our vast nation through the proud recitation of some of the ideals upon which our republic was founded and for which we continue to strive: one Nation under God," wrote the majority. "Millions of people...

A federal court in New Hampshire has tossed a lawsuit against school districts in that state alleging that they improperly coerced children to recite the Pledge of Allegiance, a decision that the American Center for Law and Justice, which represented members of Congress in an amicus brief, praised. "We’re extremely pleased with the sound and well reasoned decision issued by the court – a decision that rejects another attempt to rewrite history by targeting the Pledge and the phrase 'under God,'" said Jay Sekulow, chief counsel of the ACLJ, yesterday. Michael Newdow

A federal judge in Washington, D.C, dismissed a case yesterday brought by Michael Newdow and the American Humanist Association seeking to ban prayer and the phrase "so help me God" from presidential inaugurations. Newdow, a California attorney who pushed a case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court in an unsuccessful effort to remove the words "under God" from the Pledge of Allegiance, previously joined Dan Barker, co-president of the Freedom From Religion Foundation, and others in an attempt to obtain an injunction barring pastors Rick Warren and Joseph E. Lowery from praying at Barack Obama's inauguration. As WND...

Enough is enough! When Barack Obama is inaugurated, as he should, Pastor Rick Warren will call upon God to bless our 44th president and his administration. Obama will place his hand on Abraham Lincoln’s bible swearing to uphold and defend the Constitution. He’ll be following the honorable path of asking for God’s blessings set down by George Washington and repeated at every Presidential Inauguration. He’ll also drive the atheist crowd up the wall, but that’s their problem not ours. Americans expect our presidents to petition God’s graces because we are an overwhelmingly God believing country. Now the very way we...

WASHINGTON – President-elect Barack Obama wants to conclude his inaugural oath with the words "so help me God," but a group of atheists is asking a federal judge to stop him. California atheist Michael Newdow sued Chief Justice John Roberts in federal court for an injunction barring the use of those words in the inaugural oath. Newdow and other atheists and agnostics also want to stop the use of prayers during the inaugural celebration. Newdow, who lost a Supreme Court battle to get the words "under God" taken out of the Pledge of Allegiance, has failed in similar challenges to...

Militant atheists are intent on evicting God from the public square in America. The latest development is a suit filed by Michael Newdow against Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, Pastor Rick Warren, and several others who will be participating in the upcoming Presidential inaugural ceremonies. Newdow contends that the inauguration plans violate the Establishment and Free Exercise clauses of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Newdow complains that when Chief Justice Roberts administers the Oath of Office to President-Elect Obama and closes with the traditional "so help me God," he will be giving impermissible government sanction to the...

'SO HELP ME GOD': Stenehjem backs words in Obama's swearing-in oath Dale Wetzel, Associated Press Published Friday, January 09, 2009 BISMARCK, N.D. Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem is opposing a federal lawsuit that seeks to block Chief Justice John Roberts from saying, "So help me God," when he concludes the Jan. 20 swearing in of Barack Obama as president. North Dakota Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem (Herald file photo by John Stennes) RELATED CONTENT Article comments (13) A group of atheists filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in the District of Columbia last month, contending Roberts would violate the U.S. Constitution's...

WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline)-All of the nation's state attorneys general have signed onto a brief to include references to God in President-elect Barack Obama's inauguration this month. Authored by Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, the amicus brief was filed with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in the case of atheist Michael Newdow v. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts. Newdow, a Sacramento physician, seeks to eliminate prayer from the ceremony and prevent Obama from being able to say "so help me God" in the presidential oath of office.

Atheists, humanists and others seeking to keep God and religion out of President-elect Barack Obama’s inauguration ceremony will get their day in court. A D.C. District Court judge announced late Monday afternoon that he will hold a hearing in a lawsuit that seeks to strip all religious elements from the Jan. 20 inaugural festivities. Last week, Michael Newdow, a California lawyer, physician and well-known atheist, led 29 other plaintiffs and 11 organizations in filing a lawsuit to remove the phrase “so help me God” from the presidential oath of office and eliminate the opening and closing prayers from the inaugural...

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A number of atheists and non-religious organizations want Barack Obama's inauguration ceremony to leave out all references to God and religion. President-elect Barack Obama will use the Bible Abraham Lincoln used for his inauguration. In a lawsuit filed Tuesday in Washington, the plaintiffs demand that the words "so help me God" not be added to the end of the president's oath of office. In addition, the lawsuit objects to plans for ministers to deliver an invocation and a benediction in which they may discuss God and religion. An advance copy of the lawsuit was posted online by...

A well-known California atheist says he and 17 others, plus atheist and humanist organizations, will file suit Tuesday in D.C.'s District Court to strip all references to God and religion from President-elect Barack Obama's January inauguration ceremony. Michael Newdow, of Sacramento, Calif., says he wants to remove the phrase "so help me God" from the oath of office, plus axe the invocation prayer from Pastor Rick Warren, already under fire from the left for his opposition to gay marriage. According to Newdow, any reference to God or religion violates the Constitution. "Equality is important to me," Newdow told The Examiner....

San Francisco (AP) -- An atheist seeking to remove the words "under God" from the Pledge of Allegiance and U.S. currency is taking his arguments back to a federal appeals court. Michael Newdow, a Sacramento doctor and lawyer, sued the Elk Grove Unified School District in 2000 for forcing public school children to recite the pledge, saying it was unconstitutional. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in Newdow's favor in 2002, but two years later, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Newdow lacked standing to sue because he didn't have custody of the daughter on whose behalf he...

Excerpt - In what police describe as a "probable" suicide leap, a prominent Monterey Bay Area attorney fell at least nine floors to his death at the Embassy Suites Hotel Monterey Bay in Seaside the morning before Christmas. Shortly before 9:30 a.m. Sunday, officers found the body of Aptos attorney Paul Sanford in the west end of the hotel lobby, where he had landed on a large ventilation grate. Police Capt. Steve Cercone said horrified guests were eating breakfast in the atrium at the time, and a number of witnesses saw Sanford fall from somewhere between the 9th and 12th...