Michael Newdow, MD

Michael Newdow is best-known for his U.S. Supreme Court case Elk Grove Unified School District v. Newdow (2004) which he filed on behalf of his daughter against inclusion of the words "under God" in her public school's use of the Pledge of Allegiance. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found that the phrase constituted an endorsement of religion, and therefore violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. However, the U.S. Supreme Court overruled this decision based on procedural grounds, citing that Newdow did not have custody of his daughter and therefore did not have the right to bring suit on her behalf. Newdow has since filed a similar suit on behalf of three unnamed parents and their children. On September 14, 2005, U.S. District Judge Lawrence Karlton, citing the precedent set by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Newdow's previous suit, ruled that the pledge was unconstitutional. In November 2005, Newdow filed a lawsuit to have "In God We Trust" removed from U.S. coins and currency. Information on the progress of his lawsuits can be found at www.restorethepledge.com.

Newdow is an attorney and medical doctor. He is also the founder of the First Amendmist Church of True Science (FACTS), an Atheistic church based in Sacramento, California. Newdow is a skeptic who believes that far too much of human social structure and societal behavior has simply "evolved" without adequate consideration. As a result he devotes most of his time attempting to have others at least ponder that certain popularly accepted notions may, in fact, be completely wrong. In addition to his work on separation of church and state issues, he is active in family law codes, end-of-life issues, drug laws, and health care.