So Help Me…?

Well, invitations have been sent out for the inauguration of Barack Obama as the 56th president of the United States. But if California lawyer Michael Newdow gets his way, the oath will read a little differently this time.  Newdow is lead plaintiff in a lawsuit filed this week by atheists and atheist groups. As Tony Mauro reports at The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times, the complaint seeks an injunction to prevent Chief Justice John Roberts Jr., who will administer the oath of office to Obama, from inserting the words “so help me God.”

As it turns out, that phrase is an editorial enhancement to the oath as set out in the Constitution. Mauro explains:

The oath of office that presidents take on Inauguration Day is right there in the U.S. Constitution — at the end of Article II, Section 1. Take a look, and you will see that the oath does not include the words “so help me God” at the end, though presidents and the chief justices who swear Them in have apparently added the words in every inauguration since 1933. Some historians say George Washington used the same words in the first inaugural, but others dispute that, and in any case the practice did not become common until the inaugurations of Franklin Roosevelt.

Newdow is known for his lawsuit against a California school district which sought to remove the words “under God” from the Pledge of Allegiance. Although he won in the 9th Circuit (which discovered the words constituted an endorsement of religion), the Supreme Court later dismissed his costume for lack of standing.

In the complaint, Newdow and the other plaintiffs say they “have no objection at this time” if Obama chooses to add the words himself. “The president, like all other individuals, has No cost Exercise rights, which might permit such an alteration.” They do feel, however, that Chief Justice Roberts, in administering the oath, has no such rights.

The full text of the complaint is here.

Article courtesy of  Nancy Grimes - Founder GLI / Grimes Legal, Inc. - Legal Search Firm
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