$1 Million Judgment to Newdow Set Aside By Court

$1 Million Judgment Awarded To “Pledge” Challenger Michael Newdow Set Aside By Court

ANN ARBOR, MI – Michael Newdow, who gained national attention for his near successful efforts to have the words “under God” removed from the Pledge of Allegiance only to be thwarted by the Supreme Court on technical grounds, has suffered another court loss. This time a California state court has set aside a $1 million dollar default judgment Newdow obtained against Reverend Austin Miles for libel.

The libel judgment was based on a news article written by Reverend Miles in which he opined that Newdow had lied to the court when he claimed his daughter was forced to recite the words “under God” as she was actually a Christian who willingly said the Pledge of Allegiance in school.

This past June, Newdow convinced a judge in a California state court to enter a default judgment against Miles in the amount of $1 million, because Miles had failed to respond to the lawsuit, even though Miles had never been served with a copy of the complaint and was not aware of the lawsuit.

After learning of the $1 million dollar judgment, Miles contacted the Thomas More Law Center to represent him. After a lengthy hearing this past December, the court issued an order lifting the default judgment and allowing the case to proceed to trial. The court explained that Miles had made a sufficient showing that he lacked actual notice of the lawsuit to warrant the default to be set aside. The court explained that Miles’s lack of actual notice “was not caused by his avoidance of service or inexcusable neglect.”

Edward L. White III, the Thomas More Law Center attorney handling the case, stated: “We are pleased with the court’s decision. We will now be able to demonstrate that Newdow’s action against Reverend Miles is meritless.”

Email Update from the Thomas More Law Center