I'm going to have to eat some crow here. that picture, along, with that bio, says we are in a heap of trouble. I bet he wishes this was a jury trial.
Doubt it. The senators from PA are Specter and Santorum; he would have been suggested by them. Neither is hard core religious right. He was confirmed unanimously by the Senate. His role as District Court judge is to assemble a factual record, and render a verdict based on the law. The case law here is clear, and he's given the plaintiffs a lot of latitude in introducing evidence. I was quite surprised he admitted testimony about Philip Johnson's statements on ID being an excuse to bring God into the classroom.
He'll issue a narrow, safe verdict based on precedent, finding for the plaintiffs, and the case will go to appeal, maybe, if Thomas More doesn't decide to cut their losses.
He's no John Roberts. His record makes him sound like a political hack. And he's sitting there, thinking: "I don't know what's going on here, but on one side we have the ACLU ..."