COLUMBIA, S.C. - People do not have to swear an oath to God to serve on a jury, the South Carolina Supreme Court has ruled.

The court ruled unanimously Monday that Circuit Judge Marc Westbrook was wrong to dismiss a Lee County juror who said he couldn't agree to the phrase "so help you God" when taking his oath.

The juror, identified in court papers as Robert Woodham, said he wasn't religious and thought the phrase violated the separation of church and state.

Westbrook said Woodham couldn't serve unless he took the oath as read by the court clerk.

The justices say a state law dating to the 1700s allows for alternative statements.

"South Carolina cannot, consonant with the federal constitution, condition juror service upon the taking of a religious oath," Associate Justice Costa Pleicones wrote.

The justices said Wesley Floyd and John New deserve new trials because they were "denied a fair and impartial jury."

Floyd and New each had been sentenced to two life sentences after they were convicted of taking a secretary and a teacher hostage at knife point at Lee Correctional Institution in 1999. The hostages were released unharmed during the 12-hour standoff.

Floyd had been serving a life sentence for an Horry County murder, prison officials said. New was serving a 15-year sentence for grand larceny and other crimes in Greenville County, officials said.

"I think we've always been pretty big on religious freedom," said Aileen Clare of the South Carolina Office of Appellate Defense, who represented Floyd and New. "(Woodham) was worried about the big picture."

State law allows jurors to make an "affirmation" to be truthful instead of giving an oath to God, said Eldon Wedlock, a University of South Carolina law professor.

"You're saying, `I don't really need God's help to tell the truth,'" Wedlock said.

It's unclear when Floyd or New will be retried.

The attorney general's office has no plans to appeal, spokesman Trey Walker said.

Information from: The State