Last updated on:
3/4/2009 |
Author: ProCon.org
Alfred Theodore Goodwin, JD Biography
- Title:
- Senior Judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
- Position:
- Con to the question "Should the Words “under God” Be in the US Pledge of Allegiance?"
- Reasoning:
-
“To recite the Pledge is not to describe the United States; instead, it is to swear allegiance to the values for which the flag stands: unity, indivisibility, liberty, justice, and – since 1954 – monotheism. The text of the official Pledge, codified in federal law, impermissibly takes a position with respect to the purely religious question of the existence and identity of God.”
Elk Grove School District v. Newdow, June 26, 2002
- Involvement and Affiliations:
-
- Senior Judge, United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, 1971-present
- Chief Judge, United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, 1988-1991
- Judge, United States District Court of Oregon, 1969-1971
- Judge, Supreme Court of the State of Oregon, 1960-1969
- Judge, Circuit Court of the State of Oregon, 1955-1960
- Attorney, private practice, Eugene, Oregon, 1951-1955
- Army Captain, United States Army, 1943-1946
- Education:
-
- JD, Law, University of Oregon, 1951
- BA, Law, University of Oregon, 1949
- Other:
-
- Gave written majority opinion in Elk Grove School District v. Newdow