The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has rejected an appeal to reconsider a ruling made in June, 2002 by a three-member panel of judges that held the Pledge of Allegiance to be unconstitutional because of the words “under God.” The three judges slightly altered their earlier ruling which had banned the Pledge in all public forums; they now decided to limit their ban to recitations in schools.
      The Catholic League’s response was unequivocating:
      “Two things need to be done immediately: teachers and students should practice civil disobedience and the judges must be impeached.”
      We called on the teachers in the nine western states affected by the decision to instruct their students on the meaning of civil disobedience and then practice it. They should call the cops and local TV reporters and then recite the Pledge of Allegiance in their presence. To do this at a time when the nation is going to war would be quite poignant: our troops are prepared to die for the liberties symbolized in the Pledge yet their children at home are barred from reciting it.
      We also called for impeachment proceedings against the two federal judges who made this decision. Our point was this: judicial malpractice has been committed and those responsible must be removed from the bench. They should be removed not because most Americans disagree with them but because of jurisprudential incompetence.
      It will now be up to the Supreme Court to overturn this outrageous decision.
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