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For help contacting the expert listed below, contact Chad Austin at NC State News Services, at 919/515-3470.

Sept. 24, 2004

Political Scientist Can Discuss Constitution Issues Related to Pledge Vote

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

For the second time this year, the U.S. House of Representatives has passed legislation that would limit the jurisdiction of the federal courts, bringing into question the Constitution’s separation of powers and the tenets of federal review established more than 200 years ago in the landmark Supreme Court case Marbury v. Madison.

Under the bill passed Thursday, federal courts would be barred from striking the words “under God” from the Pledge of Allegiance to the American flag. The bill, the Pledge Protection Act of 2003 (H.R.2028), bars all federal courts, including the Supreme Court, from reviewing cases involving the Pledge of Allegiance. Earlier this year, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a ruling by a federal appeals court in California that reciting “under God” in the pledge amounted to a violation of church-state separation. The high court avoided the constitutional question, however, by finding that the plaintiff lacked legal standing to bring the case. It left open the possibility of future challenges. In July, the House passed the Marriage Protection Act (H.R. 3313), which effectively stripped federal courts of the power to determine the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act.

Dr. Vincent Phillip Muñoz, assistant professor of political science at North Carolina State University, 919-515-5037, is available to discuss the meaning of the House’s pledge vote and its broader constitutional impact. Muñoz, who specializes in American constitutional law and First Amendment religious liberty jurisprudence, says that Congress has always had authority to limit federal court jurisdiction. It is often overlooked, he explains, that the Constitution grants to Congress powers to check and balance the courts. If Congress thinks the courts eventually will strike out “under God” in the Pledge, they can act preemptively and prevent the courts from hearing such cases. This past June, Professor Muñoz testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee on the issue of hostility toward religious expression in the public square.

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