Ga. Schools to Appeal Evolution Ruling

The Guardian ^ | 1/18/2005

[mike182d]

MARIETTA, Ga. (AP) - Members of a suburban district's school board plan to challenge a federal judge's order to remove stickers in science textbooks that call evolution ``a theory, not a fact.''

In a 5-2 vote, the Cobb County school board decided to appeal last week's ruling. Board members said U.S. District Judge Clarence Cooper's order to remove the stickers immediately ``amounts to unnecessary judicial intrusion into local control of schools,'' according to a statement.

Monday's decision came after board members met with lawyers for three hours in a closed session.

-- snip --

[muawiyah]

Ignoring the case for a moment, exactly what reference did the judge use to arrive at the conclusion some element of "true religion" was involved in this?

[TexasTaysor]

Just his liberal leanings from what I gathered

[xzins]

The disclaimers read: ``This textbook contains material on evolution. Evolution is a theory, not a fact, regarding the origin of living things. This material should be approached with an open mind, studied carefully and critically considered.''

There is absolutely NOTHING in that disclaimer sticker that even mentions religion.

That judge is WAY out of line.

It is impossible to get from our first amendment to that judge's ruling on the above wording without the judge being prejudiced before the ruling.

[Jay777]

You can join the fight against the ACLU and their ilk by becoming involved with and supporting the following organizations:

Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) - http://www.alliancedefensefund.org

Thomas More Law Center (TMLC) - http://www.thomasmore.org

American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) - http://www.aclj.org

The Rutherford Institute - http://www.rutherford.org/

Stop the ACLU Coalition - http://www.stoptheaclu.org

Here are a few examples of how two of those organizations are fighting back:

ADF Contacts Over 3,600 School Districts Over Attempts To Censor Christmas

ADF: 700 lawyers ready to fight ACLU lawsuits

ADF: Pentagons' Warning About Boyscouts Is Absurd

Thomas More Law Center: Town of Palm Beach Pays $50,000 In Attorney Fees Apologizes To Women In Nativity Lawsuit

Additional information:

The ACLU must be destroyed: Joseph Farah supports Boy Scouts, urges Americans to fight back

Citizens mobilized to stop ACLU (seeks to consign group to 'ash heap of history')

ACLU fulfilling communist agenda

Revealing FACTS on the ACLU from its own writings

See how YOUR Senator or Representative ranks with the ACLU

This yahoo group just started on December 3, 2004 and is looking for new members

Anti-ACLU Page

Let me know if you would like to join my ACLU ping list

You can join the fight against the ACLU and their ilk by becoming involved with and supporting the following organizations:

Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) - http://www.alliancedefensefund.org

Thomas More Law Center (TMLC) - http://www.thomasmore.org

American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) - http://www.aclj.org

The Rutherford Institute - http://www.rutherford.org/

Stop the ACLU Coalition - http://www.stoptheaclu.org

Here are a few examples of how two of those organizations are fighting back:

ADF Contacts Over 3,600 School Districts Over Attempts To Censor Christmas

ADF: 700 lawyers ready to fight ACLU lawsuits

ADF: Pentagons' Warning About Boyscouts Is Absurd

Thomas More Law Center: Town of Palm Beach Pays $50,000 In Attorney Fees Apologizes To Women In Nativity Lawsuit

Additional information:

The ACLU must be destroyed: Joseph Farah supports Boy Scouts, urges Americans to fight back

Citizens mobilized to stop ACLU (seeks to consign group to 'ash heap of history')

ACLU fulfilling communist agenda

Revealing FACTS on the ACLU from its own writings

See how YOUR Senator or Representative ranks with the ACLU

This yahoo group just started on December 3, 2004 and is looking for new members

Anti-ACLU Page

Let me know if you would like to join my ACLU ping list

[Jay777]

Ping!

[orionblamblam]

The only claims agaisnt evolution are religious in nature. There are no valid scientific ones.

[Jay777]

Good news. They're not giving in to the pressure, and they are staying to fight this nonsense!

[Right Wing Professor]

There is absolutely NOTHING in that disclaimer sticker that even mentions religion.

The religious motivation, though, is transparent. The stickers single out evolution alone among all the ideas taught in science classes. The school district will not be able plausibly to deny that this is because evolution conflicts with their particular religious viewpoint.

[Jay777]

Good news. They're not giving in to the pressure, and they are staying to fight this nonsense!

[mlc9852]

Why couldn't it conflict with their scientific viewpoint? Scientists can have differing views, can't they?

[frgoff]

The only claims agaisnt evolution are religious in nature. There are no valid scientific ones.

you would NEVER hear this kind of dogmatic statement in ANY kind of real scientific discipline.

[newgeezer]

What the h*ll business does a FEDERAL judge have ruling on this obviously LOCAL issue?

(Yeah, I know. The First Amendment allegedly doesn't really mean "Congress shall make no law, blah, blah, blah...) {sigh}

[xzins]

Yes they will. They'll be able to say that a public school constituency objected to the books, and that they took a fair and balanced look at the books and put in a fair and balanced sticker.

Each line of the disclaimer:

``This textbook contains material on evolution." One can hardly argue with that. It is a fact.

"Evolution is a theory, not a fact, regarding the origin of living things." That is simply a fact. It is called the "theory of evolution." If it were called the "fact of evolution" then someone could complain.

"This material should be approached with an open mind, studied carefully and critically considered." The whole point of education is to accomplish the above. Who can argue with critical thought and study?

More importantly, there is absolutely NOTHING on that sticker or in the actions of the school board that constitute "Congress making a law" that "establishes a national religion" or says someone cannot practice their religion; OR (14th Amendment) the Georgia Legislature "making a law" that establishes a Georgia religion" or says someone cannot practice their religion.

The words of the 1st amendment ARE the words of the first amendment.

[mhking]

The judge was clueless.

And while I (and a lot of other parents) didn't go to the school board meeting last night, the board took the right steps -- even in the face of the less enlightened parents who brought about the lawsuit in the first damn place.

According to this morning's AJC:

Six parents sued to remove the stickers saying the disclaimers violated the principle of separation between church and state. Cooper heard three days of testimony, plus closing arguments, in November. He issued his ruling Thursday.

The board's decision Monday flabbergasted Jeffrey Selman, the leader of the parents who sued. "They're ludicrous," he said. "They're ignoring the ruling."

Board Chairwoman Kathie Johnstone read the board's statement aloud Monday, although both she and Laura Searcy voted against the appeal. Johnstone, the only one of seven members not on the board when the disclaimers were written, said she personally felt "it's time to move on."

"I'm worried about the toll it will have on the district," she said.

Board members said they would pursue the appeal at no additional cost, a promise stemming from board attorney Glenn Brock's pledge to do his remaining work on the case for free. Brock's law firm has charged the board roughly $74,000 so far.

Brock said he will request a stay as early as today from the judge's order that the disclaimers be removed immediately.

They have solved the main problem I've had with this mess from the beginning, and that's the cost to Cobb County taxpayers like myself.

She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed was approached yesterday morning while she was out to sign a petition geared toward getting the school board not to pursue the appeal.

She was polite. "No, thank you; I'm not interested in signing."

The goon with the petition was more insistant. "Ma'am, you don't seem to understand. The Cobb County School Board wants to ignore--"

"I KNOW what the case is and is about -- and I'm not interested in signing your petition," she replied a little more firmly.

"But ma'am, we are trying to get these stickers out of the books and keep us from being the laughing stock of the nation," the goon pleaded.

"I am not interested in your petition. I hope the School Board does appeal," she said commandingly. "Have a NICE day!"

When Rachel gets like that, I'm always reminded of a "Babylon 5" exchange where Delenn tells an attacking fleet, "Only one human captain has ever survived battle with the Minbari fleet. He is behind me. You are in front of me. If you value your lives, be somewhere else."

I love my wife!

Just damn.

If you want on the list, FReepmail me. This IS a high-volume PING list...

[rwfromkansas]

The voices inside his head told him so.

[orionblamblam]

> you would NEVER hear this kind of dogmatic statement in ANY kind of real scientific discipline.

Yes, you would, when there are no valid scientific claims against an established theory. The only claims against evolution at this time are religious in nature.

[orionblamblam]

> What the h*ll business does a FEDERAL judge have ruling on this obviously LOCAL issue?

What if a city decided to enable slavery, or restrict free speech (or - and I realize that this is an out-there, wacky notion, but bear with the highly hypothetical - decided to ban handguns)? Sometimes the Feds can legally meddle.

[mikeus_maximus]

[i]Jeffrey Selman[/i] Why does it seem to be liberal Jews who are the most vocal proponents of evolution?

[King Prout]

:)
sounds like you had better!