(Atlanta - July 30, 2002) Attorney General Thurbert Baker announced today that he had asked the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to reconsider its decision holding that the Pledge of Allegiance violates the Establishment Clause of the United States Constitution. The Attorneys General from forty-seven other states joined with Attorney General Baker in making this request.

Baker, in announcing the petition to the court, stated, "I believe that the court's decision was clearly erroneous, and I have joined with Attorneys General across the nation in asking the court to reverse this ruling which affects school children throughout the western United States."

The petition to the 9th Circuit from the Attorneys General called the opinion "legally flawed" and pointed out two opinions of the United States Supreme Court which reflected the Supreme Court's favorable view of the Pledge of Allegiance.