An atheist group has decided not to appeal a ruling against its case challenging the constitutionality of the phrase 'Under God' in New Jersey schools' Pledge of Allegiance.
According to TheBlaze, the American Humanist Association (AHA) confirmed that its legal arm, the Appignani Humanist Legal Center, would not be filing an appeal against Monmouth County Judge David F. Bauman after he dismissed their suit against the Matawan-Aberdeen Regional School District in the New Jersey Superior Court.
Appignani had filed suit against the school district last year on behalf of an unnamed family who accused the school district of discrimination and of violations of Article 1 of the New Jersey State Constitution by keeping the phrase in the Pledge of Allegiance.
"Public schools should not engage in an exercise that tells students that patriotism is tied to a belief in God," David Niose, Appignani's legal director, said last year.
"Such a daily exercise portrays atheist and humanist children as second-class citizens, and certainly contributes to anti-atheist prejudices," he claimed.
According to the Christian Post, New Jersey high school student Samantha Jones and her family joined the case in November. Ms. Jones, who was represented by the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, gave testimonies during the hearing for the school district's motion to dismiss Appignani's case.
In February, Judge Bauman granted the motion to dismiss the case, stating that the evidence failed to demonstrate that the student from the unnamed family was "bullied, ostracised or in any way mistreated."
On Monday, the Becket Fund said that the AHA and Appignani had "thrown in the towel" in the case and were not intending to appeal the dismissal of its suit against the Matawan-Aberdeen Regional School District.
"The decision to give up the case marks the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty's fifth victory in a row defending the words 'one nation under God'," the organisation said.
