>>>The judge merely pushes the question from what is science to what is nature. That only makes it more difficult. I hope he doesn't equate the two.
Well, if there is a designer, then that designer would be above the laws of nature and be supernatural. Science, by definition, does not deal with the supernatural. That is for the philosophers.
Yes and no.
The study of science leads to questions that are not specifically scientific. In other words, the phenomena under question is part of a world that is bigger than the conventions of naturalism. Specialization is safe; it permits one to ignore the point of overlap.
I have no doubt that judges of this sort plan to ban the philosophy of science as well.