Justice Scalia Recuses Himself from Pledge Case
Antonin Scalia will just be a spectator when the Supreme Court tackles the emotional Pledge of Allegiance case next year, sidelined apparently by one man's questions about the justice's impartiality.
The court, minus Scalia, said Tuesday it will decide if the regular morning classroom salute to the American flag is unconstitutional because of the reference to God.
Scalia did not explain why he will not take part in the most watched case of the term.
The announcement surprised court watchers and even Michael Newdow, the California parent and atheist who wants the words "under God" removed from the pledge. He sued on behalf of his 9-year-old daughter and won.
Matt's Chat
I am proud of Justice Scalia's decision. While it may actually hurt the result of the findings, it was the right thing to do in order to ensure that the opponents of "Under God" would cry impartiality.
Mark's Remarks
While I honor Justice Scalia's decision, I need to ask the question: how many times has the Court's or a Justice's impartiality been questioned over the years? Why does Justice Scalia feel that one person's charge of partiality is worth not being part of one of the most important and most watched Court cases in recent memory. I think we get too worried about what others might think that we let them make decisions for us. If we do that, we fall prey to being the lapdogs the liberals want us to be.
