UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

DISTRICT OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

The Freedom from Religion Foundation;

Jan Doe and Pat Doe, Parents;

DoeChild-1, DoeChild-2, and DoeChild-3,

Minor Children,

Plaintiffs

v. Civil No. 07-cv-356-SM

Opinion No. 2008 DNH 141

The Congress of the United States

of America; The United States of

America; The Hanover School District;

The Dresden School District; School

Administrative Unit 70

Defendants

The State of New Hampshire

Intervenor

Anna Chobanian; John Chobanian;

Kathryn Chobanian; Schuyler Cyrus;

Elijah Cyrus; Rhys Cyrus; Austin

Cyrus; Daniel Phan; Muriel Cyrus;

Michael Chobanian; Margarethe Chobanian;

Minh Phan; Suzu Phan; and the Knights of

Columbus,

Intervenors

O R D E R

This suit poses a constitutional challenge both to the

inclusion of the words “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance

(“Pledge”), and to the practice of reciting the Pledge in the

elementary school attended by the children of Jan Doe and Pat

Doe. Before the court are motions to dismiss filed by: (1) the

Congress of the United States of America and the United States of

America (“federal defendants”) (document no. 16); (2) the State

Case 1:07-cv-00356-SM Document 44 Filed 08/07/08 Page 1 of 23
1 The HSD, the Dresden School District, and SAU 70 have not

moved to dismiss.

2

of New Hampshire (document no. 14); and (3) a group of defendants

that includes eight students in the Hanover School District

(“HSD”), parents of five of those students, and the Knights of

Columbus (document no. 22).1 For the reasons given, the federal

defendants’ motion is granted in part, and the other motions are

denied.

The Legal Standard

A motion to dismiss for “failure to state a claim upon which

relief can be granted,” FED. R. CIV. P. 12(b)(6), requires the

court to conduct a limited inquiry, focusing not on “whether a

plaintiff will ultimately prevail but whether the claimant is

entitled to offer evidence to support the claims.” Scheuer v.

Rhodes, 416 U.S. 232, 236 (1974). When considering a motion to

dismiss under Rule 12(b)(6), the court “must assume the truth of

all well-plead facts and give the plaintiff[s] the benefit of all

reasonable inferences therefrom.” Alvarado Aguilera v. Negrón,

509 F.3d 50, 52 (1st Cir. 2007) (quoting Ruiz v. Bally Total

Fitness Holding Corp., 496 F.3d 1, 5 (1st Cir. 2007)). However,

the court need not “credit ‘bald assertions, unsupportable

conclusions, periphrastic circumlocutions, and the like.’” Brown

v. Latin Am. Music Co., 498 F.3d 18, 24 (1st Cir. 2007) (quoting

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2 Jan and Pat Doe may or may not be members of plaintiff

Freedom From Religion Foundation; the relevant paragraph of the

complaint is ambiguous on that point. (See Compl. § 9.)

3

Aulson v. Blanchard, 83 F.3d 1, 3 (1st Cir. 1996)). “[A]

complaint is properly dismissed for failure to state a claim

‘only if the facts lend themselves to no viable theories of

recovery.’” Garnier v. Rodríguez, 506 F.3d 22, 26 (1st Cir.

2007) (quoting Phoung Luc v. Wyndham Mgmt. Corp., 496 F.3d 85, 88

(1st Cir. 2007)).

Background

The following facts are drawn from the complaint, and, for

the purposes of deciding the motions to dismiss, are assumed to

be true. Jan Doe and Pat Doe (“the Doe parents”) are the mother

and father of DoeChild-1, DoeChild-2, and DoeChild-3 (“the Doe

children”). The Doe children are enrolled in a public elementary

school operated by the Hanover School District (“HSD”). None of

the three is enrolled in the middle school(s) operated by the

Dresden School District (“DSD”) or the high school operated by

School Administrative Unit (“SAU”) 70, although the complaint

alleges that they will be at some point in the future.

Jan and Pat Doe describe themselves as atheist and agnostic,

respectively.2 Each of the Doe children is said to be either an

atheist or an agnostic. The Pledge of Allegiance (“Pledge”) is

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4

routinely recited in the classrooms of the Doe children, and in

the classrooms of schools operated by the DSD and SAU 70. 

As adopted by Congress, the Pledge reads:

I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of

America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one

Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice

for all.

4 U.S.C. § 4. The words “under God” were added to the Pledge by

act of Congress in 1954. See Act of June 14, 1954, Pub. L. No.

83-396, 68 Stat. 249 (hereinafter “1954 Pledge statute”). While

4 U.S.C. § 4 prescribes the text of, and manner in which the

Pledge should be recited, it prescribes no penalties, and does

not in any way compel recitation of the Pledge. 

In New Hampshire, recitation of the Pledge is governed by

state law, which provides:

I. As a continuation of the policy of teaching

our country’s history to the elementary and secondary

pupils of this state, this section shall be known as

the New Hampshire School Patriot Act.

II. A school district shall authorize a period of

time during the school day for the recitation of the

pledge of allegiance. Pupil participation in the

recitation of the pledge of allegiance shall be

voluntary.

III. Pupils not participating in the recitation

of the pledge of allegiance may silently stand or

remain seated but shall be required to respect the

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5

rights of those pupils electing to participate. If

this paragraph shall be declared to be unconstitutional

or otherwise invalid, the remaining paragraphs in this

section shall not be affected, and shall continue in

full force and effect.

RSA 194:15-c.

None of the Doe children has been overtly compelled to

recite the Pledge or the words “under God.” The Doe parents

asked the principal of their childrens’ school to assure them

that the Pledge would not be recited, but the principal declined

to do so. This suit followed.

Rather than setting out their legal claims concisely in

discrete counts, plaintiffs have done so in narrative form. It

is necessary, then, for the court to attempt to identify the

legal grounds upon which plaintiffs are seeking relief. A fair

reading of the complaint suggests that plaintiffs are asserting

the following causes of action, designated by traditional

“counts.”

Count I (Compl. ¶ 37) is a claim by the Doe children that

the HSD violated their rights under the Free Exercise Clause of

the First Amendment to the United States Constitution by

allegedly requiring recitation of the Pledge by other students in

their classrooms.

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3 In a footnote in their complaint, plaintiffs state: “To

preclude unnecessary repetition, Article 6 (Morality and Piety)

of the New Hampshire Constitution will not be mentioned further. 

However, Plaintiffs assert that each of the relevant claims made

pursuant to the federal constitutional provisions likewise apply

to the State Constitution.” (Compl. ¶ 39.) That is not enough, 

see FED. R. CIV. P. 8(a)(2), and plaintiffs’ claims are limited to

those they state expressly.

6

Count II (Compl. ¶ 37) is a claim by the Doe children that

the HSD burdened their exercise of religion in violation of the

Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 (“RFRA”), 42 U.S.C. §

2000bb, by allegedly requiring recitation of the Pledge by other

students in their classrooms.

Count III (Compl. ¶ 38) is a claim by the Doe children that

the HSD violated their rights under the First Amendment’s

Establishment Clause by officially endorsing monotheism and,

thus, stigmatizing them for their atheistic or agnostic beliefs.

Count IV (Compl. ¶ 39) is a claim by the Doe children that

the HSD, the DSD, and SAU 70, breached their respective

constitutional obligations under Part I, Article 6, of the New

Hampshire Constitution by officially endorsing monotheism.3

Count V (Compl. ¶¶ 42-43) is a claim by the Doe parents that

the HSD abridged their parental rights to instill their own

religious beliefs in their children. 

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7

Count VI (Compl. ¶¶ 44-45) is a claim by the Doe children

that the HSD abridged their rights to acquire religious values

from their parents, without governmental interference. 

Count VII (Compl. ¶¶ 46-50) is a claim by the Doe children

that the HSD violated their rights under the Equal Protection

Clauses of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United

States Constitution by endorsing the religious notion that God

exists, and perpetuating prejudice against atheists or agnostics,

such as themselves.

Count VIII (Compl. ¶ 51) is a claim by the Doe children that

the HSD subjected them to neglect (if not abuse) within the

meaning of 42 U.S.C. § 5106g(2) by exposing them to emotional

harm occasioned by their required presence in a classroom in

which other students recite the Pledge.

Count IX (Compl. ¶¶ 52-63) is a claim by the Doe parents

that employees of the HSD, the DSD, SAU 70, and the United States

of America (including members of Congress), violated their rights

as taxpayers under the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause by

reciting the Pledge, participating in government functions during

which the Pledge is recited, and printing and distributing

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8

written materials (including the United States Code) that include

the Pledge.

Count X (Compl. ¶ 64) is plaintiffs’ claim that the United

States Congress violated the First Amendment’s Establishment

Clause when it passed the 1954 Pledge statute.

Count XI (Compl. ¶ 65-66) is plaintiffs’ claim that the 1954

Pledge statute is invalid under RFRA.

Count XII (Compl. ¶ 67) is plaintiffs’ claim that the HSD,

the DSD, and SAU 70, violated the First Amendment’s Establishment

clause by implementing RSA 194:15-c, requiring teachers in their

schools to lead recitations of the Pledge as a patriotic

exercise.

Count XIII (Compl. ¶ 67) is plaintiffs’ claim that the HSD,

the DSD, and SAU 70, violated the First Amendment’s Free Exercise

clause by implementing RSA 194:15-c, requiring recitation of the

Pledge in its schools as a patriotic exercise.

Count XIV (Compl. ¶ 67) is plaintiffs’ claim that the HSD,

the DSD, and SAU 70, violated Part I, Article 6, of the New

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9

Hampshire Constitution by implementing RSA 194:15-c, requiring

recitation of the Pledge in its schools as a patriotic exercise.

Count XV (Compl. ¶ 68) is a claim by the Doe children that

the HSD violated RSA 169-D:23 by denying them the right to freely

exercise their religion.

Count XVI (Compl. ¶ 71) is plaintiffs’ claim that the 1954

Pledge statute is void as against public policy because, rather

than engendering patriotism and national unity, including the

words “under God” in the text of the Pledge actually fosters

divisiveness. 

In their prayers for relief, plaintiffs ask the court to:

(1) declare that Congress violated the First Amendment’s

Establishment and Free Exercise Clauses when it passed the 1954

Pledge statute; (2) declare that 4 U.S.C. § 4 violates the First

Amendment’s Establishment and Free Exercise Clauses, the Equal

Protection guarantee of the Fifth Amendment, and RFRA, by virtue

of its including the words “under God” in the text of the Pledge;

(3) declare that by having their agents lead students in reciting

the Pledge, the HSD, the DSD, and SAU 70, violated the First

Amendment’s Establishment and Free Exercise Clauses; the

Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause; RFRA; Part I,

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4 The claim that the HSD, the DSD and SAU 70 violated RSA

194:15-c, New Hampshire’s pledge statute, does not square with

the body of plaintiffs’ complaint, in which they contend that RSA

194:15-c itself violates the federal constitution, and that

various defendants violated their federal constitutional rights

not by ignoring RSA 194:15-c, but by complying with its mandate.

10

Article 6, of the New Hampshire Constitution; RSA 169-D:23, and

RSA 194:15-c;4 (4) order Congress to immediately remove the words

“under God” from the Pledge; (5) order the United States to use

its power to remove the words “under God” from 4 U.S.C. § 4; and

(6) order the HSD, the DSD, and SAU 70, to cease and desist from

using the Pledge in the schools they operate. 

Plaintiffs originally sued the Congress of the United States

of America (“Congress”), the United States of America (“the

United States”), the HSD, the DSD, and SAU 70. Subsequently, the

court granted motions to intervene filed by: (1) the United

States, seeking to defend the constitutionality of 4 U.S.C. § 4;

(2) the State of New Hampshire, seeking to defend the

constitutionality of RSA 194:15-c; and (3) eight HSD students

(and the parents of five), and the Knights of Columbus, all

seeking “to protect their substantial interest in defending,

against Plaintiffs’ constitutional challenge, the

constitutionality of the Pledge of Allegiance that is recited

daily in Hanover’s public schools” (Mot. to Intervene (document

no. 21) at 1). 

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Discussion

A. The Federal Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss

As noted above, plaintiffs bring three claims against the

federal defendants, asserting that: (1) Congress violated the

Establishment Clause by passing the 1954 Pledge statute (Count

X); (2) Congress violated (the later-enacted) RFRA when it passed

the 1954 Pledge statute (Count XI); and (3) members of Congress,

along with employees of the United States, have violated the

Establishment Clause by reciting the Pledge as constituted in

1954, participating in events at which the Pledge was recited,

and printing and distributing written materials that include the

Pledge (Count IX). 

The federal defendants move to dismiss on a variety of

grounds both jurisdictional and substantive. The court begins

with the jurisdictional issues.

First, Counts X and XI, which assert claims against the

United States Congress, plainly must be dismissed for lack of

jurisdiction. Article I, Section 6, Clause 1, of the national

constitution provides that “for any Speech or Debate in either

House [of Congress], [members] shall not be questioned in any

other Place.” Thus, “the federal courts lack jurisdiction to

issue orders directing Congress to enact or amend legislation.” 

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Newdow v. U.S. Congress, 328 F.3d 466, 484 (9th Cir. 2002), rev’d

on other grounds by Elk Grove Unified Sch. Dist. v. Newdow, 542

U.S. 1 (2004) (citing Eastland v. U.S. Servicemen’s Fund, 421

U.S. 491, 503 (1975)). “Because the words that amended the

Pledge were enacted into law by statute, the district court may

not direct Congress to delete those words,” id., and Congress may

not be “questioned [about them] in any other Place,” id., as a

defendant in a lawsuit or otherwise. Accordingly, Counts X and

XI are dismissed for want of subject matter jurisdiction.

Count IX is dismissed as well, to the extent it seeks relief

against the United States of America, because the Doe parents are

without standing to bring the claim asserted against the United

States.

The U.S. Supreme Court has recently reiterated the

principles governing standing to sue for alleged violations of

the Establishment Clause:

Article III of the Constitution limits the

judicial power of the United States to the resolution

of “Cases” and “Controversies,” and “‘Article III

standing . . . enforces the Constitution’s case-orcontroversy requirement.’” DaimlerChrysler Corp. v.

Cuno, 547 U.S. ----, ----, 126 S. Ct. 1854, 1861 (2006)

(quoting Elk Grove Unified School Dist. v. Newdow, 542

U.S. 1, 11 (2004)). . . .

“[O]ne of the controlling elements in the

definition of a case or controversy under Article III”

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13

is standing. ASARCO Inc. v. Kadish, 490 U.S. 605, 613

(1989) (opinion of KENNEDY, J.). The requisite

elements of Article III standing are well established:

“A plaintiff must allege personal injury fairly

traceable to the defendant’s allegedly unlawful conduct

and likely to be redressed by the requested relief.”

Allen v. Wright, 468 U.S. 737, 751 (1984).

Hein v. Freedom From Religion Found., Inc., 127 S. Ct. 2553, 2562

(2007) (parallel citations omitted) (holding that taxpayers

lacked standing to assert Establishment Clause challenge to

religious activities of White House Office of Faith-Based and

Community Initiatives). 

In Count IX the Doe parents allege injury in that some

portion of their federal taxes are used to support recitation of

the Pledge by federal employees, participation by federal

employees in government functions at which the Pledge is recited,

and the printing and distribution of various written materials

that include the Pledge. Regarding taxpayer standing, the

Supreme Court explained:

As a general matter, the interest of a federal

taxpayer in seeing that Treasury funds are spent in

accordance with the Constitution does not give rise to

the kind of redressable “personal injury” required for

Article III standing. . . . 

We have consistently held that this type of

interest is too generalized and attenuated to support

Article III standing. . . .

Because the interests of the taxpayer are, in

essence, the interests of the public-at-large, deciding

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14

a constitutional claim based solely on taxpayer

standing “would be[,] not to decide a judicial

controversy, but to assume a position of authority over

the governmental acts of another and co-equal

department, an authority which plainly we do not

possess.” [Frothingham v. Mellon], [262 U.S.] at 489;

see also Alabama Power Co. v. Ickes, 302 U.S. 464, 478-

479 (1938).

In Doremus v. Board of Ed. of Hawthorne, 342 U.S.

429, 433 (1952), we reaffirmed this principle,

explaining that “the interests of a taxpayer in the

moneys of the federal treasury are too indeterminable,

remote, uncertain and indirect to furnish a basis for

an appeal to the preventive powers of the Court over

their manner of expenditure.” We therefore rejected a

state taxpayer’s claim of standing to challenge a state

law authorizing public school teachers to read from the

Bible because “the grievance which [the plaintiff]

sought to litigate . . . is not a direct dollars-andcents injury but is a religious difference.” Id., at

434. In so doing, we gave effect to the basic

constitutional principle that

“a plaintiff raising only a generally available

grievance about government–claiming only harm to

his and every citizen’s interest in proper

application of the Constitution and laws, and

seeking relief that no more directly and tangibly

benefits him than it does the public at large-does

not state an Article III case or controversy.” 

Lujan v. Defenders of Wildlife, 504 U.S. 555, 573-574

(1992). 

Hein, 127 S. Ct. at 2563-64 (parallel citations omitted). 

In Valley Forge Christian College v. Americans United for

Separation of Church & State, Inc., the Supreme Court also

rejected a determination by the court of appeals that plaintiffs

in an Establishment Clause case “had established standing by

Case 1:07-cv-00356-SM Document 44 Filed 08/07/08 Page 14 of 23
15

virtue of an injury in fact to their shared individuated right to

a government that shall make no law respecting the establishment

of religion.” 454 U.S. at 482 (holding that taxpayers lacked

standing to assert an Establishment Clause challenge to the

donation of surplus government property to a sectarian college). 

In the words of the Court:

This Court repeatedly has rejected claims of standing

predicated on “‘the right, possessed by every citizen,

to require that the Government be administered

according to law . . . .’ Fairchild v. Hughes, 258

U.S. 126, 129 [1922].” Baker v. Carr, 369 U.S. 186,

208 (1962). See Schlesinger v. Reservists Committee to

Stop the War, supra, 418 U.S. [208,] 216-222 [(1974)];

Laird v. Tatum, 408 U.S. 1 (1972); Ex parte Levitt, 302

U.S. 633 (1937). Such claims amount to little more

than attempts “to employ a federal court as a forum in

which to air . . . generalized grievances about the

conduct of government.” Flast v. Cohen, 392 U.S. [83],

106 [(1968)].

. . . .

[A]ssertion of a right to a particular kind of

Government conduct, which the Government has violated

by acting differently, cannot alone satisfy the

requirements of Art. III without draining those

requirements of meaning.

. . . .

The complaint in this case shares a common

deficiency with those in Schlesinger and [United States

v.] Richardson[, 418 U.S. 166 (1974)]. Although

respondents claim that the Constitution has been

violated, they claim nothing else. They fail to

identify any personal injury suffered by them as a

consequence of the alleged constitutional error, other

than the psychological consequence presumably produced

by observation of conduct with which one disagrees. 

That is not an injury sufficient to confer standing

under Art. III, even though the disagreement is phrased

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16

in constitutional terms. It is evident that

respondents are firmly committed to the constitutional

principle of separation of church and State, but

standing is not measured by the intensity of the

litigant’s interest or the fervor of his advocacy.

Valley Forge, 454 U.S. at 482-86 (parallel citations omitted).

The general principles outlined in Hein and Valley Forge are

subject to an exception, announced in Flast v. Cohen. In that

case, the Supreme Court “noted that the Establishment Clause of

the First Amendment specifically limits the taxing and spending

power conferred by Art. I, § 8,” 392 U.S. at 105, and held that

a taxpayer will have standing consistent with Article

III to invoke federal judicial power when he alleges

that congressional action under the taxing and spending

clause is in derogation of those constitutional

provisions which operate to restrict the exercise of

the taxing and spending power.

Id. at 105-06. As the Court further explained:

[A] taxpayer will be a proper party to allege the

unconstitutionality only of exercises of congressional

power under the taxing and spending clause of Art. I, s

8, of the Constitution. It will not be sufficient to

allege an incidental expenditure of tax funds in the

administration of an essentially regulatory statute. 

This requirement is consistent with the limitation

imposed upon state-taxpayer standing in federal courts

in Doremus v. Board of Education, 342 U.S. 429 (1952).

Flast, 392 U.S. at 102 (parallel citations omitted, emphasis

added).

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5 Plaintiffs describe the “Pause for the Pledge of

Allegiance” in the following way: 

Sponsored by the National Flag Day Foundation,

this event involves the participation of thousands of

Maryland school children, a high school choir, use of

governmental buildings, a concert given by the 229th

17

Here, the Doe parents allege that: (1) they pay federal

income and sales taxes (Compl. ¶ 52); (2) “[s]ome of the federal

tax dollars paid by [them] and utilized in connection with

Defendants’ maintenance and utilization of the Pledge of

Allegiance are apportioned under the taxing and spending clause

of Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution of the United States”

(¶ 53); (3) “numerous federal . . . governmental employees –

using governmental facilities – recite the now-sectarian Pledge

of Allegiance while being paid from the government coffers” (¶

56); (4) “tax moneys are also used to perpetuate the notion that

‘real Americans’ believe in God, and those who do not believe in

God are second-class citizens, to be ‘tolerated’ by our society”

(¶ 58); (5) “[f]ederal tax money is also used for the printing

and distribution of the United States Code (including 4 U.S.C. §

4) as well as pamphlets, etc., that contain the Pledge of

Allegiance” (¶ 60); (6) “[f]ederal . . . tax moneys are used when

the Pledge is recited at federal . . . governmental functions” (¶

61); and (7) “[f]ederal tax money is also used to support the

‘Pause for the Pledge of Allegiance’ (Pub. L. 99 Stat. 97) annual

festivities” (¶ 62).5

Case 1:07-cv-00356-SM Document 44 Filed 08/07/08 Page 17 of 23
Maryland Army National Guard band, and a “Fly-over” by

the A-10 “Thunderbolt” jets of the 104th Fighter

Squadron 175th Wing Maryland Air National Guard. The

estimated cost to taxpayers of the Fly-over, alone, is

on the order of $10,000.00.

(Compl. ¶64, n.7).

18

Under even the most generous reading of plaintiffs’

complaint, it simply does not contain allegations sufficient to

bring the Doe parents’ claims within the Flast exception. See

Flast, 392 U.S. at 85-86 (holding that taxpayers had standing to

assert Establishment Clause challenge to federal statute

appropriating funds “used to finance instruction . . . in

religious schools, and to purchase textbooks and other

instructional materials for use in such schools”); Hein, 127 S.

Ct. at 2569-70 (declining to extend Flast exception to executive

branch expenditures); Valley Forge, 454 U.S. at 479-80 (same). 

While generally alleging that some federal funds appropriated

under the Article I Taxing and Spending Clause support recitation

or publication of the Pledge, plaintiffs identify only a single

congressional action, a joint resolution “urg[ing] all Americans

to participate on [National Flag Day] by reciting in unison the

Pledge of Allegiance to our Nation’s Flag, at seven o’clock post

meridian eastern daylight time on June 14, 1985.” Act of June

20, 1985, Pub. L. No. 99-54, 99 Stat. 97. That Act, however, was

not an exercise of Congress’s taxing and spending power; it

appropriated no funds at all. Because the sole congressional

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19

action upon which the Doe parents rely in Count IX was not an

exercise of Congress’s taxing and spending power, their claim

does not fall within the Flast exception.

Because the Doe parents lack standing to bring the claim

asserted against the federal defendants in Count IX, this court

lacks jurisdiction to adjudicate it. See United Seniors Ass’n,

Inc. v. Philip Morris USA, 500 F.3d 19, 26 (1st Cir. 2007) (“As

we conclude that United Seniors failed to establish Article III

standing . . . we lack the requisite subject matter jurisdiction

to reach the district court’s determination on the merits.”)

(citing Steel Co. v. Citizens for a Better Env’t, 523 U.S. 83,

94-95 (1998)). Accordingly, Count IX is dismissed as to the

federal defendants.

Notwithstanding the dismissal of all claims against the

federal defendants, however, the United States remains a party to

this case, in its limited role as an intervenor. The Rule of

Civil Procedure governing intervention provides, in part, that

“the court must permit anyone to intervene who: (1) is given an

unconditional right to intervene by a federal statute.” FED. R.

CIV. P. 24(A)(1). The United States may intervene by right under

28 U.S.C. § 2403(a), which provides, in pertinent part:

Case 1:07-cv-00356-SM Document 44 Filed 08/07/08 Page 19 of 23
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In any action, suit or proceeding in a court of

the United States . . . wherein the constitutionality

of any Act of Congress affecting the public interest is

drawn in question, the court . . . shall permit the

United States to intervene for presentation of

evidence, if evidence is otherwise admissible in the

case, and for argument on the question of

constitutionality. The United States shall, subject to

the applicable provisions of law, have all the rights

of a party . . . to the extent necessary for a proper

presentation of the facts and law relating to the

question of constitutionality. 

(Emphasis added.) “The scope of this statutory intervention is

limited to presenting evidence and arguments in support of the

constitutionality of the [challenged] statute.” Vietnamese

Fishermen’s Ass’n v. Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, 543 F. Supp.

198, 215 n.17 (S.D. Tex. 1982) (citing Smolowe v. Delendo Corp.,

36 F. Supp. 790, 792 (S.D.N.Y. 1940)).

Given the limited role of the United States as an

intervenor, it is not appropriate to reach the United States’

arguments concerning: (1) plaintiffs’ standing to sue the DSD or

SAU 70; or (2) FFRF’s associational standing to sue any of the

defendants in this case. On the other hand, if and when the HSD,

the DSD, and SAU 70, engage on the merits, the United States will

be heard on the constitutionality of 4 U.S.C. § 4, but only on

that issue.

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B. The State of New Hampshire’s Motion to Dismiss

The State of New Hampshire’s status is similar to that of

the United States — it is an intervenor for the limited purpose

of presenting evidence and providing argument related to the

constitutionality of RSA 194:15-c. See FED. R. CIV. P. 24(a)(1);

28 U.S.C. § 2403(b); Vietnamese Fishermen’s Ass’n, 543 F. Supp.

198, 215 n.17. Like the United States, the State of New

Hampshire will be heard at the appropriate time on the statute’s

constitutionality. But, consistent with 28 U.S.C. § 2403(b), the

State of New Hampshire will not be heard on any of the other

issues raised in its motion to dismiss, such as: (1) this court’s

jurisdiction to decide state-law questions; and (2) plaintiffs’

standing to assert that RSA 194:15-c violates the federal

constitution. Accordingly, the State of New Hampshire’s motion

to dismiss is denied, but with the understanding that argument

presented in that motion relating to the constitutionality of RSA

194:15-c will be taken into account at such time as that issue is

joined by the remaining parties in interest.

C. The Third Motion to Dismiss

A third motion to dismiss has been filed by several HSD

students, their parents, and the Knights of Columbus. As noted

above, these parties “request[ed] leave to intervene . . . to

protect their substantial interest in defending . . . the

Case 1:07-cv-00356-SM Document 44 Filed 08/07/08 Page 21 of 23
22

constitutionality of the Pledge of Allegiance that is recited

daily in Hanover’s public schools.” As with the motions to

dismiss filed by the other intervenors, to the extent the motion

raises other issues, such as standing, it is denied. But, to the

extent the motion addresses the constitutionality issue, the

intervenors’ argument will be taken into account at such time as

that issue is joined by the remaining parties in interest. 

Conclusion

For the reasons given, the federal defendants’ motion to

dismiss (document no. 16) is granted to the extent that the

federal defendants are dismissed from the case as parties in

interest, but the motion is otherwise denied. The remaining two

motions to dismiss (document nos. 14 and 22) are denied to the

extent they address issues other than the constitutionality of

the Pledge, related practices and state statutory provisions. As

the case progresses, and the parties in interest engage on the

constitutionality of the Pledge and related practices, those

portions of the three motions to dismiss addressing that issue

will be accepted as memoranda of law in support of the argument

for constitutionality. Accordingly, the intervenors need do

nothing more to be heard on the issue of constitutionality, but,

of course, are free to file supplemental memoranda as

appropriate.

Case 1:07-cv-00356-SM Document 44 Filed 08/07/08 Page 22 of 23
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SO ORDERED.

____________________________

Steven J. McAuliffe

Chief Judge

August 7, 2008

cc: Michael A. Newdow, Esq.

Rosanna T. Fox, Esq.

Eric B. Beckenhauer, Esq.

Gretchen L. Witt, Esq.

Theodore C. Hirt, Esq.

David H. Bradley, Esq.

Nancy J. Smith, Esq.

Eric C. Rassbach, Esq.

Kevin J. Hasson, Esq.

Bradford T. Atwood, Esq.

John A. Simmons, Sr., Esq.

Benjamin W. Bull, Esq.

David A. Cortman, Esq.

Jeremy D. Tedesco, Esq.

Michael J. Compitello, Esq.

Case 1:07-cv-00356-SM Document 44 Filed 08/07/08 Page 23 of 23