‘So Help Me God’ in U.S. Citizenship Oath Constitutional

The phrase “so help me God” in the naturalization oath for U.S. citizenship passes Constitutional muster, the First Circuit said Friday, rejecting claims that the words violated an atheist woman’s First Amendment rights.

The words don’t run afoul of the establishment clause, under the U.S. Supreme Court’s most recent framework used to evaluate long-standing practices with religious content, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit said.

Olga Paule Perrier-Bilbo, who moved to the U.S. from France and sought to become a naturalized citizen in 2008, said the oath infringed on her religious belief system, which includes the denial ...