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Sacramento atheist Michael Newdow’s quixotic challenge to the words “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance came to an end Monday as the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-3 that he did not have standing to bring his suit. The decision symbolically was announced on Flag Day and on the 50th anniversary of the signing of the law that inserted the words into the pledge. It had the effect of sweeping away the controversial Ninth Circuit ruling that found the pledge, as recited in public schools, violated the First Amendment.

The Ninth Circuit ruled that the Rio portable music player could be marketed without violating recording piracy laws. Upholding a decision by the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, the Ninth Circuit found that the Rio, a device that played music downloaded from a computer hard drive, did not qualify as a “digital audio recording device” and thus was not subject to the restrictions of the Audio Home Recording Act of 1992. “Under the plain meaning of the act’s definition of digital audio recording devices, computers (and their hard drives) are not digital audio recording devices because their ‘primary purpose’ is not to make digital audio copied recordings,” Judge Diarmuid O’Scannlain wrote.