Anti-Evolutionist Teacher Sues School District

In a case that is likely to pit creationists against evolutionists, a high school biology teacher filed a $5-million federal lawsuit Monday against the Capistrano Unified School District, contending that school officials violated his constitutional rights by forcing him to teach evolution.

Attorney Cyrus Zal argued in a 30-page legal brief filed in federal court that the district is trying to force John Peloza, a teacher at Capistrano Valley High School in Mission Viejo, to abandon his teachings of creationist theory in favor of “secular humanism.” a belief that holds, in part, that there was no divine intervention in the origin of the universe. Zal said district officials have discriminated against Peloza, a “born-again Christian,” because of his religion.

“What they are trying to do is make John tow the line and establish the religion of secular humanism,” Zal said. “He is resisting that.” He added that the district is also violating Peloza’s freedom of speech and academic freedom.

James Fleming, superintendent of the Capistrano Unified School District, called the charges and the lawsuit “outrageous.”

“I think it’s a travesty,” Fleming said. “We will have to spend staff time and Orange County taxpayers’ money building a case to defend ourselves against such ridiculous charges.” Members of the district’s board said the defense could cost up to $1 million.

Zal said he is unaware of any similar cases in the state.

Observers of the Peloza case say the lawsuit is reminiscent of the 1925 Scopes “monkey trial.” Tennessee high school teacher John T. Scopes was convicted of violating a state law that made it illegal to teach the theory of evolution.

“Scopes was forbidden to teach evolution and he threw down the gauntlet and taught it,” said Benjamin Hubbard, a religion professor at Cal Sate Fullerton. “Now we have somebody who is forbidden to teach what Scopes was supposed to teach, and he is throwing his own gauntlet.”

Peloza’s suit stems from a district reprimand in which he was ordered to stop instructing his students on the theory of an “intelligent creator” and to follow the scientific explanation of evolution, as mandated by district curriculum guidelines.

The district follows the State Board of Education’s policy, which says evolution should be taught as the only scientific theory explaining the origin of life.

“The state curriculum framework refers to evolution not as fact but as a valid scientific theory, and it is to be taught as such,” Fleming said. “It is a body of science, which provides some explanation for the origin of universe.”

In a news conference outside the Federal Building in Santa Ana on Monday, Peloza, who was once a runner-up for the district’s teacher of the year award, said he believes that both creationism and evolutionism are “differences in philosophies.”

“My purpose is to teach my students to differentiate between philosophical belief and empirical science,” Peloza said. “Empirical science is what scientists do, and if we cannot observe it either directly or indirectly through our five senses, then we cannot validate it as a scientific theory.”

Zal, who is representing Peloza on behalf of the nonprofit Rutherford Institute of California--an Encino-based organization that describes itself as specializing “in the defense of religious liberty, family autonomy and sanctity of human life”--said Peloza decided to file suit after Capistrano Unified trustees rejected a $5-million claim during the summer.

The claim was not the first run-in between Peloza and the district. Capistrano Unified officials issued Peloza a written reprimand last school year after parents complained that he allegedly gave a student a Bible and told a Jewish student that people who don’t believe in Jesus Christ “are going to hell.”