WASHINGTON, March 2011: Atheist Michael Newdow plans to continue his fight to get ‘In God We Trust’ off U.S. currency after the Supreme Court denied a hearing in his case on Monday (March 7).
‘I plan on bringing the lawsuit again on behalf of other Americans who believe they are injured when the government lends its power to one side of the controversy over whether or not God exists,’ he said.
Newdow, a doctor in Sacramento, Calif., has filed numerous First Amendment suits concerning government endorsement of religion. He filed the challenge to the national motto in 2005. A year ago, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against him, citing a 1970 decision that said the use of the motto on U.S. coins and bills is ‘of a patriotic or ceremonial character and bears no true resemblance to a governmental sponsorship of a religious exercise.’