A federal appeals court in San Francisco heard arguments in a lawsuit filed by a Sacramento, Calif., man who says the words “under God” should be removed from the Pledge of Allegiance because they are unconstitutional.
The challenge was brought by Michael Newdow, an atheist who filed a revised lawsuit in 2004 against the Elk Grove Unified School District in Sacramento after the U.S. Supreme Court said he lacked standing to bring a 2002 lawsuit because he did not have custody of the daughter on whose behalf he brought the case.