By Leticia Vasquez
Editor

It’s part of a morning ritual for most school-age children living in the United States. Some do it without even giving it a second thought. For them, reciting the Pledge of Allegiance comes almost by second nature.

When the 112-year-old oath was attacked two years ago for containing the phrase “under God,” it wasn’t long before the issue sparked controversy.

On June 26, 2002, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled that Congress had indeed violated the First Amendment when it added the words to the pledge in 1954.

The “pledge” issue, along with other topics related to separation of church and state, will be the focus of a debate between Kevin J. Hasson, president of the Beckett Fund for Religious Liberty, and the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State.

The fourth annual Andrews Kurth Debate — “Considering God in Government” — will be at 1 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 28, in the University of Houston Law Center’s Krost Hall Auditorium, entrance 19 off Calhoun Road. The event, which is underwritten by the law firm of Andrews Kurth LLP, is free and open to the public.

In 2002, the father of an 8-year-old girl in California alleged the phrase “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance violated the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. In his argument, Michael Newdow told the court that the amendment states that government cannot endorse or fund any religion and may not pass law that restricts people’s beliefs.

After the court upheld his argument, Leah Gross, UH Law Center’s director of marketing and public relations, decided to propose the debate topic to the law firm.

“I had already secured the speakers, which was a great advantage because I don’t think we would have gotten this caliber of speakers if we had waited any longer than we did,” she said. “Everyone would have been after them.”

This debate aims to breathe true life into the First Amendment, Gross said, demonstrating how it has evolved over the years.

“This is a perfect example of how the Constitution still is a living document more than 200 years after it was drafted,” she said. “We are still facing these issues every day.”

Hasson has law and theology degrees from the University of Notre Dame and is a former attorney/adviser for the U.S. Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel, where his responsibilities included advising the Reagan administration on church and state issues.

Lynn is an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ and has a law degree from Georgetown University and a degree from Boston University School of Theology. He is the co-author of “The Right to Religious Liberty: The Basic ACLU Guide to Religious Rights” and served as a regular co-host of the radio program, “Pat Buchanan and Company.”

For the law students who attend the debate, Gross said she hopes the forum will show them how what they are studying in school right now can affect how this country goes about its business in the future.

“The debate will show how relevant a legal education really is, how being a good advocate can make a difference,” Gross said. “This type of education can affect how we live, how we learn and how we work.”

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