Legal News

Judge finds one out of 19 classroom comments "hostile to Christian beliefs"

By Richard Binder

U.S. District Judge James Selna ruled Friday in a lawsuit student Chad Farnan filed in 2007, alleging that teacher James Corbett violated the establishment clause of the First Amendment by making repeated comments in class that were hostile to Christian beliefs.

The lawsuit cited more than 20 statements made by Corbett during one day of class, which Farnan recorded, to support allegations of a broader teaching method that "favors irreligion over religion" and made Christian students feel uncomfortable.

During the course of the litigation, the judge found that most of the statements cited in the court papers did not violate the First Amendment because they did not refer directly to religion or were appropriate in the context of the classroom lecture.  But Selna ruled Friday that one comment, where Corbett referred to creationism as "religious, superstitious nonsense," did violate Farnan's constitutional rights.

Full story at LATimes.com.

Selna wrote in his ruling that he tried to balance Farnan's and Corbett's rights. At least one writer is skeptical about that approach.

Full post as published by Legal Pad | LA on May 05, 2009 (boomark / email).