Following precedent established by a 1970 court decision, U.S. District Judge Frank C. Damrell Jr. ruled that the words "In God We Trust" are a national motto that "have nothing whatsoever to do with the establishment of religion."
Michael Newdow, a Sacramento doctor and lawyer who argued that the phrase violates his right to be treated equally, vowed on Tuesday to appeal the ruling.
"It's such a fraud," Newdow said in an interview. "In this nation that's supposed to be this beacon of religious liberty, a bastion of equality. What's next 'In Jesus We Trust,' `In Protestantism We Trust' ?"
Two years ago, Newdow, an avowed atheist, battled all the way to the Supreme Court to have the phrase "under God" removed from the Pledge of Allegiance. The high court ruled the Sacremento man lacked the standing to bring the case.
With new plaintiffs, Newdow brought an identical lawsuit back to the courts, where it now sits before the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit of Appeals. Newdow said he plans to appeal the coin decision, as well, to the same appeals court. Newdow estimated that he has spent between $7,000 and $8,000 on his court cases.
Newdow's "In God We Trust" case claimed that the government was "excluding people who don't believe in God," and violating the constitutional principle of a separation between church and state.
Jay Sekulow, chief counsel of the conservative American Center for Law and Justice, said Newdow's lawsuit is an "attempt to alter history by removing a legitimate expression of our religious history."
Federal lawmakers authorized a reference to God on a 2-cent piece in 1864, according to the Associated Press. Congress passed a law that required all U.S. currency to bear the words "In God We Trust" in 1955.
