WASHINGTON, Jan. 18 (UPI) -- A California atheist asked the U.S. Supreme Court Tuesday to keep Protestant ministers from saying prayers at President Bush's inauguration.
Michael Newdow of Sacramento asked a federal judge last week to issue an injunction against the planned prayers, saying they were an unconstitutional violations of the separation of church and state.
When the judge refused, saying Newdow was unlikely to win on the merits at trial, Newdow appealed that ruling to a federal appeals court in Washington.
The appeals court refused to issue an injunction before hearing Newdow's case. Tuesday's emergency request to the Supreme Court asks for an injunction pending appeal.
Newdow is best known for challenging the phrase "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance on behalf of his elementary school-age daughter. The Supreme Court ruled last term that Newdow could not bring the challenge because he did not have custody of his daughter.
