An Opportunity to Pledge Allegiance
Each day in Mecklenburg County, our teachers lead CMS students in the Pledge of Allegiance. As classes recite the Pledge, students align themselves with two of America’s founding principles, “liberty” and “justice”, the very ideals for which countless Americans have fought and died. At thirty-one words, the Pledge is brilliant in its conciseness and symbolism. Along with the National Anthem, it is often the only national salute committed to inextricable memory by most American citizens. It strikes at the very heart of the American experience and calls on citizens to embrace and perpetuate this legacy.
While our students learn the Pledge of Allegiance, Mecklenburg County courts have an opportunity to remind our citizens of the Pledge’s solemn promises by reciting it at the start of each court session. In my thousands of court appearances as a criminal prosecutor in this county, I did not witness this being done in our courtrooms. Each day in Mecklenburg County, cases are tried, witnesses are considered, decisions are made, and the lives of our citizens are changed. The execution of the ideals of “liberty” and “justice” falls, largely, to our courts and to our judges. “Liberty and justice for all” is the philosophical foundation of our entire judicial system. Nowhere are the vows of the Pledge more appropriately declared.
Federal and state case law is clear: recitation of the Pledge is constitutionally permissible, so long as individuals are not required to stand, salute, or recite the Pledge during the eight to ten seconds it takes for others to do so. This March, in Newdow v. Rio Linda Union School District, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, based in San Francisco, rejected a parent’s challenge to the Pledge of Allegiance by ruling that a daily classroom performance of the Pledge by willing students does not violate the Establishment Clause of the 1st Amendment to the Constitution. Similarly, no local law or court decision precludes the practice of reciting the Pledge of Allegiance by public bodies in North Carolina.
The North Carolina General Assembly, at the convening hour of each legislative week, begins its sessions with the Pledge of Allegiance. In many other counties throughout North Carolina, Superior and District Court judges choose to start court with this brief patriotic invocation. Here in Mecklenburg County, various civic organizations including the Mecklenburg County Young Republicans, the Uptown Democratic Forum, and Rotary Clubs all honor America by reciting the Pledge of Allegiance at every official meeting.
Consistent with the fundamental definition of “liberty”, no person attending any court or legislative session may be forced to participate in the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance. During the time it takes to say the Pledge, those who object to it, its principles, or its recitation may do as their conscience or faith directs them. Whether refraining or participating, each person exercises the very freedom that the Pledge itself champions.
The Pledge of Allegiance is not a radical statement. Although some may find controversy in it, the institutions of our American democracy do not. In my view, the people attending court in Mecklenburg County- defendants, plaintiffs, witnesses, jurors, police, lawyers, and judges alike- would all be well served by an opportunity to reaffirm their devotion to America while bearing witness to the oath of their fellow citizens. While many will choose to stand and recite the Pledge, others may abstain. While most will honestly declare allegiance to these noble goals, others may just repeat a civic lesson from their childhood. Some may simply listen and think. And, with luck, a case will have a better chance of reaching the justice that the Pledge honors.
Sean Smith
September 11, 2010
(The writer is a former Mecklenburg County Assistant District Attorney and is a candidate for Mecklenburg County District Court Judge in November)
We need your help! If you like PunditHouse, please consider donating to us. Even $5 a month can make a difference!
Short URL: https://pundithouse.com/?p=3399
