Center Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Eric Schippers

703-535-5836

June 28, 2002

ONE NATION, UNDER SIEGE BY ESTABLISHMENT CLAUSE REVISIONISM

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — A nation at war, which continues to mourn its fallen heroes from 9-11, wrapping itself in the collective comfort of a renewed spirit of patriotism, was rudely awakened yesterday morning to news that the Pledge of Allegiance is unconstitutional. In response to that ruling out of the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the 9^th Circuit, Center Executive Director Eric Schippers released the following statement:

"In a country where the President of the United States and many members of Congress end their speeches with ‘God Bless America’ and call for a National Day of Prayer, where citizens can exercise their First Amendment rights to display in a public setting a picture of the Virgin Mary covered in elephant dung, it is inconceivable our schoolchildren may not voluntarily recite the Pledge of Allegiance in a classroom.

"This decision further emphasizes the alarming need for the Senate to expedite the judicial confirmation process to put competent judges in the Courts who respect the rule of law and resist judicial activism that is all too often eroding the true intent of the US Constitution."

Founded in 1998, the Center for Individual Freedom (www.cfif.org) is a non-partisan, non-profit organization with the mission to protect and defend individual freedoms and rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution.

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