Court Strikes Pledge From Schools

According to the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, it is unconstitutional for Pennsylvania schools to require students to recite the Pledge of Allegiance or sing the National Anthem. The appeals court upheld the decision last year by Senior U.S. District Court Judge Robert F. Kelly in Philadelphia.

The state law in contention allowed students to opt out of the pledge and anthem, but required written notification to be sent to the parents of instances where it occurred. The notification provision is the reason that the ACLU filed the initial lawsuit. They considered it to have a 'chilling' effect on students exercising their rights.

I personally don't see any harm in requiring the pledge and anthem in schools, but I do see harm in the courts legislating policies based on the gripes of a handful of socialists, or anarchists, or nazis, or cultists, or just plain-old contrarian jerks.