Election Section

Assembly passes resolution supporting pledge

Staff
Friday June 28, 2002

SACRAMENTO — The state Assembly overwhelmingly approved a “Protect Our Pledge” resolution Thursday to protest the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ ruling that the Pledge of Allegiance is unconstitutional. 

Written by Assemblyman Dennis Cardoza, D-Atwater, the resolution calls first for the U.S. Supreme Court to invalidate the ruling. If that doesn’t happen, the resolution calls for Congress to pass a constitutional amendment to authorize recitation of the pledge in any public facility. 

“The most overturned circuit court in our country, the 9th Circuit, needs to be reminded that their job is to uphold the Constitution and to protect the Constitution, and not to undermine the Constitution,” Cardoza said. 

Although the 110-year-old pledge has been changed several times, a constitutional amendment would preserve it in its current form and would require another constitutional convention to change it. 

The Assembly resolution passed 69-0. 

A similar resolution was introduced in the Senate by Sen. Ray Haynes, R-Murrieta, calling on California Attorney General Bill Lockyer to join the U.S. Department of Justice in supporting the constitutionality of the pledge. That resolution is expected to reach the Senate floor on Friday.