Starting in 1940 with the case of Minersville School District v. Gobitis, suits have challenged whether schools may force students to pledge their allegiance to the U.S. flag.
On this date (Dec. 28) in 1945, Congress adopted the Pledge into the United States Flag Code. In honor of the anniversary, Follow Our Courts takes a look at this legal history.
The 1940 ruling compelled children to say the Pledge, and was overturned by a 1943 ruling. Jehovah’s Witnesses had presented significant challenges to the mandatory practice in the 1930s and ’40s, describing it as a form of idolatry that went against their religious beliefs.
In 1954 President Dwight Eisenhower added the words “under God” to the script. Consequently, in 2002 the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a case in which an atheist, whose daughter would soon start school, argued that the Pledge was an unconstitutional endorsement of monotheism. The rejection was because the plaintiff did not have legal custody of his daughter.
Nevertheless, in 2004, there was a ruling that children did not have to stand for the pledge.
Between 2006 and 2015, there were several significant court cases challenging the phrase “under God.” The most recent ruling, in 2015 said the phrase did not violate atheist rights.
Read more: The history of legal challenges to the Pledge of Allegiance
