Court of Appeals Says Yes to In God We Trust

The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit turned back a challenge by the ACLU concerning the inscription of the phrase In God We Trust, our national motto, which was placed on the Davidson County court building in North Carolina.  In God We Trust was adopted as our national motto in 1954.  There has been a series of challenges over the years, and each case that has raised the issue of the constitutionality of In God We Trust has been concluded successfully for our position.  The ACLU brought the challenge to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, and I am happy to report that they held that our national motto is, in fact, constitutional.  The court relied on language contained in the Pledge of Allegiance case regarding the significance of religious statements and religious heritage to the founding of the American Republic.  We anticipate that the ACLU will take this case to the Supreme Court of the United States.  Of course, we will engage the ACLU as this case moves forward. 

On the issue of judicial confirmation, it appears now that there will be a major constitutional showdown on Wednesday.  It is anticipated that the issue of judicial nominations and the filibuster will be front and center with the nomination of Judge Priscilla Owen.  If, in fact, there is a failure to obtain a vote for cloture, which would allow the vote, then a motion to change the rule will be put forward.  Our Office of Governmental Affairs in Washington, DC, has been working aggressively on this issue and is distributing a short, one-page memorandum today which will discuss the actual procedures utilized to get the rule change put in place.  I anticipate updates from our DC office throughout the next several days on this critically important issue.

I encourage you to check out our website at www.aclj.org for frequent updates.