Newdow Expected to Appeal Decision on Inaugural Prayer
Tony Mauro
Legal Times
01-18-2005
Time is running out, but Sacramento, Calif., atheist Michael Newdow still hopes to stop President George W. Bush from beginning and ending his Jan. 20 inaugural ceremony with prayers by two Protestant ministers.
Newdow is expected to appeal U.S. District Judge John Bates' decision late Friday rejecting almost every claim Newdow made in challenging the prayers.
Bates said Newdow's suit mirrored too closely a similar suit he filed and lost after the last inauguration. And Bates doubted he had the authority to enjoin the president from inviting whomever he wanted to speak at his inaugural.
At a hearing before Bates in U.S. District Court in D.C. on Jan. 13, Newdow -- who addressed the court by speakerphone from California -- had argued that the inaugural amounted to state endorsement of religion at "the grandest civic ceremony our nation has."
Newdow made headlines last year for his Supreme Court challenge against the words "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance.
The Honorable John Bates did that rare thing making a common sense decision and I applaud him for that.
More and more, I get the feeling that for Mr. Newdow, all that matters is the headlines. And for that, no applause is necessary or desirable.
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