An atheist from California has filed a federal lawsuit seeking to remove the phrase “In God We Trust” on American currency, claiming it is unconstitutional.
The lawsuit was filed against the U.S. Congress and Treasury Department by Michael Newdow, 62, a Sacramento attorney, on Jan. 11 in Akron, Ohio on behalf of 41 plaintiffs.
Newdow claims that the phrase “In God We Trust” violates the First Amendment and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA).
The lawsuit further argues that the defendants have “substantially burdened Plaintiffs in the exercise of their Atheistic beliefs” by requiring them to “personally bear a religious message that is the antithesis of what they consider to be religious truth.”
Newdow had successfully sought to have the phrase removed before and previously sued the government to have the phrase “under God” removed from the Pledge of Allegiance.
