Peloza Vows to Appeal Ruling : Teacher Says Dismissal of Creationist Suit Was Based on ‘Rhetoric’

A day after a federal judge issued a scathing ruling against John Peloza and threw out his lawsuit against the Capistrano Unified School District, the biology teacher was back in school determined to pursue an appeal.

In an interview Friday, Peloza was adamant in his contention that U.S. District Judge David W. Williams was wrong in his decision to dismiss the lawsuit, which Peloza filed because, he says, the district abridged his First Amendment rights by forcing him to teach what he calls the “religion” of evolution. In his ruling, Williams described Peloza as “a loose cannon.”

“If I’m a loose cannon with the eight years I’ve been here and with the (positive) evaluations I have had, my question is, what are the other teachers?” Peloza said. “If I am a loose cannon who was voted runner-up for Teacher of the Year by his peers, what are the other teachers then?”

Peloza said the judge based his 18-page ruling on the “rhetoric” of school officials, whom he accuses of wrongly reprimanding him.

“It’s interesting that (the ruling) parallels the reprimand by the principal,” Peloza said. “I sense a kindred spirit between the district and the judge.”

Peloza said he plans to fight the decision, but his attorney, Cyrus Zal, has not indicated when he plans to file the appeal. Peloza added that he believes he would have won the lawsuit if the judge had allowed his case to go to trial.

“Either it’s going through the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the grand jury or the appeals courts,” Peloza said. “We’re going to get someone to look at the facts of the case and not base the decisions upon meaningless rhetoric that is being exchanged back and forth. It’s an outright myth that I’m using (the Book of Genesis) to validate my position, which is just not true.”

Though Peloza is a self-professed creationist, he continued to deny the district’s claims that he attempted to advance that theory in his science classes.

Early Friday morning, Capistrano Valley High School was abuzz with the news that the lawsuit had been dismissed. During a school rally for the Cougars, Capistrano Valley’s basketball team, students shared the news. Some said they were relieved, and others were hopeful that the campus would no longer be the focal point of a controversy that has pitted traditional scientists against Christian groups.

“It’s been crazy here for a long time,” said junior Jaime Ortiz, 16. “Maybe we’ll get some peace now.”

Although Ortiz thought it was “noble” of Peloza to pursue his case against the district, he added: “Beliefs should not influence what he teaches. He has to follow the district’s curriculum just like the rest of the teachers.”

Senior Susie Tino, 18, said it was healthy for the campus to debate the issue.

“I don’t see what’s wrong with what he was doing,” she said. “Both sides should be taught in the schools.”

The issue was sparked last February when Capistrano Unified officials reprimanded Peloza. Officials alleged that Peloza, a “born-again” Christian, was preaching to his students and ordered him to stop.

The reprimand also directed Peloza to cease teaching the creationist belief that humans were put on Earth by an intelligent creator. He was instructed to instead follow district guidelines requiring that evolution be taught as the scientific explanation of the origin of life. The district follows the state’s science curriculum guidelines.

Capistrano Unified Assistant Supt. William Eller said Friday that the district sticks by its reprimand of Peloza.

“We continue to believe our position is correct,” Eller said. “It would be unfortunate if any other body gave significant credence to the issue, one which I think is settled and one in which the additional expense would be better served in an instructional program.”

Religious scholar Benjamin Hubbard, a professor at Cal State Fullerton, said that although the case was dismissed by the federal court, Christian groups will continue to vigorously support Peloza.

The suit has drawn national attention and has been likened to the celebrated 1925 “Monkey Trial,” in which Tennessee teacher John T. Scopes was convicted for teaching evolution.

“There is an agenda here that is being fulfilled,” Hubbard said. “This case is being used, and there are clearly sympathizers who are really rooting for this whole thing. They have found their man. It’s ironic that the (American Civil Liberties Union) found their man Scopes in 1925. But that was the other end of the argument.”

However, Hubbard said, interest in the case may die down in other venues because of the judge’s characterization of Peloza.

“Peloza doesn’t come out looking good,” Hubbard said. “He doesn’t look like some innocent guy. I think it will make people on the state school board say, ‘Well, here is the guy we’re up against.’ The decision is liable to reinforce the conviction of the state board people and those who are in the middle of the road thinking, ‘We want to be fair, but this guy went too far.’ ”