Pledge of Allegiance lawsuit

Frank and Michele Jones and their three children are intervening in a lawsuit that is trying to prevent students from saying "one nation under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance. The family feels it infringes on students' rights, according to the law firm.

(The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty)

A court has ruled that a Blackwood teenager and her family can intervene in a lawsuit aimed at ridding the words “under God” from the Pledge of Allegiance.

Samantha Jones, 17, is a senior at Highlands Regional High School in the Black Horse Pike Regional School District and is claiming that removing the phrase referencing God infringes on her rights to say the Pledge in its entirety, according attorney Diana Verm, of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, who is representing the Jones’ and the Knights of Columbus.

The court granted an order Sept. 18 to allow them to intervene in the case and they will be taking the side of the Matawan-Aberdeen Regional School District, Verm said. The American Humanist Association is suing the school district to have the phrase removed on behalf of an unnamed family.

“They don’t want to be silenced, they want to continue saying the full pledge of allegiance,” Verm said of the Jones’ family.

If the courts ruled to remove the phrase from the Pledge, Verm said that would have an impact on Jones because it would apply to all schools in New Jersey. She also added that the Pledge is voluntary so people don’t have to recite it, which she said has been a remedy in the courts for decades.

“Where they’re wrong is the words 'under God' are not a religious statement but they’re a statement of political philosophy,” Verm said. “It was our Founding Father’s understanding that our rights don’t come from the state but they come from something higher than the state.”

The American Humanist Association, who filed the suit earlier this year, says the phrase, added in 1954, "marginalizes atheist and humanist kids as something less than ideal patriots."

The next steps for Jones and the Knights of Columbus will be to file a motion to have the lawsuit dismissed, Verm said.

Ashley Peskoe may be reached at apeskoe@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @ashleypeskoe. Find NJ.com on Facebook.