WASHINGTON, June 14 (UPI) -- The U.S. Supreme Court Monday knocked down a challenge to the phrase "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance.
The court majority said a non-custodial father did not have the right to challenge the phrase on behalf of his daughter.
An opinion written by liberal Justice John Paul Stevens says nothing done by a Sacramento, Calif., school board prevents the father, self-professed atheist Michael Newdow, from teaching his child his religious beliefs.
The school board conducts a voluntary recitation of the pledge each day.
In his challenge, Stevens said, Newdow hoped to forestall religious ideas endorsed by the girl's mother -- her custodial parent.
All the justices joined in the judgment, either in Stevens's opinion or in a concurrent opinion. Justice Antonin Scalia withdrew from the case because of comments made in a speech.
Because the case was decided on "standing," the right to sue, the high court did not rule on the phrase's constitutionality.
