In 2002-JUN, a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals voted 2 to 1.

They declared the Pledge to be unconstitutional because it includes the words "under God." They ruled that the phrase implies a government endorsement of religion, in violation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion..."