Current Status:
On December 29, 2008, a lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, challenging the two monotheistic religious practices that occur at presidential inaugurations. The first concerns the presidential oath of office, which is prescribed in the Constitution’s Article II. With no authorization whatsoever, Chief Justices have taken to adding the purely religious phrase, “so help me God” when administering that oath. The second challenged practice is that which has occurred since 1937: chaplains brought in to the inaugural ceremony to give prayers to Jesus and to God.
The District Court ruled against the Plaintiffs on March 12, 2009, and an appeal was taken to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Briefing in the appeal was completed in October 2009, and oral argument was held in Washington, DC, on December 15. On May 7, 2010, the appellate panel ruled 2-1 that the Plaintiffs did not have standing due to a lack of redressability.
A petition for rehearing was filed and denied. A petition for certiorari has been filed with the United States Supreme Court. Of note is that the issue in this petition is not whether or not the religious activity at the inauguration is constitutional. Rather, it is whether or not there is redressability when the President orders his underlings to violate the Constitution.
The Supreme Court has denied the petition for certiorari. Thus, the case is now over. Furthermore, because of the standing decision in the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit – which is the proper Circuit in which to bring this challenge – there is really no way to bring this case again. Thus, from now on, it appears that the Chief Justice of the United States (the personification of the rule of law and devotion to the words of the Constitution) will continue the practice of altering those words every four years in a manner contrary to the first ten words of the Bill of Rights.
Case Instructions
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Case Updates for Appeals (Jump to District)
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Case Updates for District Court
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