Last month it was reported in Freethought Today that Michael Newdow had filed a lawsuit in Ohio to get “In God We Trust” off U.S. currency.
Newdow, a California attorney and physician, also filed a complaint on Dec. 15, 2015, in the District of Minnesota, with seven FFRF members as part of the group of 29 plaintiffs.
In 2013, Newdow, along with FFRF, sued the U.S. Treasury over the printing of “In God We Trust” on currency. That lawsuit was dismissed by New York Judge Harold Baer and upheld on appeal.
As with the Ohio suit filed in January, Newdow has based his new complaints on the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) rather than on the First Amendment protection from the governmental establishment of religion, as he did in 2013.
FFRF members Gary Berger, Marie Castle, Charles Christopher, Betty and Thomas Grogan, Roger Kaye and Eric Wells have joined 22 others in the suit.
Newdow’s current complaint, which is 115 pages in length, makes the claim that the presence of the motto on coins and paper money offers an unfair advantage to Christians.
In 2004, Newdow sued to have “under God” removed from the Pledge of Allegiance. That case made it to the Supreme Court, although it ruled that he did not have standing to sue.
