WASHINGTON — California attorney and atheist Michael Newdow is making another run at “In God We Trust,” with a new Supreme Court petition challenging the national motto.
In an uphill battle, Newdow is asking the nine justices to review an appellate court’s rejection of his claim that the invocation of God on official currency violates the constitutional separation of church and state.
“Devout atheists are forced to choose between not using what is often the only available legal tender and committing what they consider blasphemy,” Newdow argued in his petition placed on the court’s docket Tuesday.
With his latest legal petition, Newdow now has multiple First Amendment arguments pending before the Supreme Court. Separately, he also is challenging the phrase “So help me God” in the presidential oath. Newdow said Wednesday that a third petition, challenging the Pledge of Allegiance, will soon arrive at the court.
Formal responses in the cases aren’t due until at least mid-February, and it could take several months before the justices consider the petitions in a closed-door conference. Nonetheless, Newdow concedes the odds are stacked against him.
“I think it is a sheer cliff with any court comprised of justices who are not atheists themselves,” Newdow said in an e-mail Wednesday.
He added: “I think they would rather avoid the political fallout than do what they are paid to do and uphold the rights of this disenfranchised minority, i.e. atheists.” McClatchy Newspapers
