Pledge Of Allegiance Case Study

Introduction
The Pledge of Allegiance is an issue that has sparked so much controversy in recent times. The case of Elk Grove Unified School District v. Newdow is one such debate that has challenged the constitutionality of the pledge. This case provokes the argument of whether the pledge is religiously or politically inclined. The paper will explore the issues in the case, the levels it has evolved as well as its constitutionality and impact on the American population.
Salient points of the Supreme Court case
There were two main points in the case of Elk Grove Unified School District v. Newdow. The first issue is related to whether Michael Newdow, the respondent had the legal and relevant authority to pose a challenge about the Pledge of Allegiance

In this light, the magistrate judge dismissed Newdow’s complaint. Upon this ruling, the case was taken to the Ninth Circuit which was superior to the district court. The circuit affirmed Newdow’s claims and held that as a parent he merited to challenge the school’s practice of the pledge because it interfered with his right and authority to guide the religious education his daughter obtained. The court maintained that Newdow, being the father to the child had the full rights to expose his daughter to his own religious beliefs even if they contradicted that of the mother and he even qualified to seek redress for the injury of his parental interests. The Ninth Circuit Appellate Court further held that the policy of the district school was unconstitutional because it violated the Establishment Clause. Clearly, the Ninth Circuit had acted in reliance of the intermediate appellate cases of California state that allowed a parent to impart their religious ideologies on a child regardless of whether they were custodial or not. This position propelled the case to go to the next level of the Supreme Court thus the Elk Grove Unified School Dist. V. Newdow went through two levels before getting to the Supreme

Newdow arises from the fact that it has seen millions of American school children retain the practice of reciting the pledge on a daily basis. Proving the constitutionality of the practice appeared to be a weighty matter even at the Supreme court ranks and thus many parents have embraced the practice. The American society has also witnessed the benefits of being completely present in a child’s life because lacking legal custody denies a parent legal rights over a child. Justice O’Connor in the course of the court decision was instrumental in assisting the American population understand that the pledge was merely a patriotic exercise and not a religious