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Religion See other Religion Articles Title: Student sues Capo teacher, alleging anti-Christianity statements MISSION VIEJO – A high school honors student and his parents filed a First Amendment lawsuit Wednesday against a Capistrano Valley High School history teacher they say repeatedly made disparaging and religiously intolerant remarks about Christians and traditional Christian viewpoints during class. Sophomore Chad Farnan and attorneys for the Christian legal group Advocates for Faith and Freedom announced the lawsuit against 19-year history teacher James Corbett during a press conference Wednesday at the Mission Viejo school. The suit, filed in Santa Ana federal court, alleges Corbett and the Capistrano Unified School District violated the First Amendment's establishment clause that prohibits government from advancing religion or promoting hostility toward religion. Court papers cite statements tape-recorded by Farnan such as "Conservatives don't want women to avoid pregnancies – that's interfering with God's work" and "When you put on your Jesus glasses, you can't see the truth." "It just shocks me that someone would think that and say that," said Farnan, a Christian. "He's my teacher, and I've lost respect for him. I'm offended." Corbett could not be reached for comment. Capistrano Valley High principal Tom Ressler declined to comment, except to say that nearly two-thirds of Corbett's 130 students in AP European history passed the AP exam last year – a pass rate above the state average. Corbett also teaches AP art history. "We're going to need a little bit of time to look into it and determine our course of action," said Capistrano Unified spokeswoman Beverly de Nicola. The lawsuit, which seeks unspecified damages and attorney fees, alleges that Corbett typically spent "a large portion of class time propagating his personal views to a captive audience." He railed against Christianity and traditional Christian viewpoints on topics such as birth control, teenage sex, homosexuality and erectile dysfunction, according to the lawsuit. Farnan said he initially began recording Corbett's lectures as a way to supplement his note-taking. But he grew concerned by the repeated remarks aimed at religion and had his mother, Teresa, review the tapes. Teresa Farnan, 48, of Mission Viejo contacted Advocates for Faith and Freedom. "It has some merit to it," said constitutional scholar John Eastman, dean of the Chapman University School of Law, who is not affiliated with the case. "Lawsuits like this are important to remind public teachers that the classroom is not their personal soap box." Chad Farnan, a swimmer and water polo player who aspires to attend USC or UCLA, said he is in danger of failing Corbett's class because of the poor instruction he's received. Depending on the outcome of the lawsuit, he may drop the class, his mother said. At least one parent, Lynley Rosa, said she pulled her son out of Corbett's class this year because of the teacher's religious comments. "It wasn't worth it anymore," said Rosa, 38, of San Juan Capistrano. "The mockery of religion was a main focus in the classroom, and it felt like he wasn't learning what he should be curriculum-wise, so I pulled him out." Corbett has been involved in at least two prior court cases as a Capistrano Valley High teacher. In 1993, he was named in a lawsuit brought by colleague John Peloza, a biology teacher who challenged Capistrano Unified's mandate to teach evolutionary theory. Corbett was listed in the suit as one of the defendants with a "class-based animus against practicing Christians" who attempted to "force" Peloza to teach evolution through "harassment and intimidation." A trial court and an appeals court ruled against Peloza, although the appeals court said the complaint was "not entirely frivolous" and awarded attorney fees to Peloza.
Poster Comment: Read the complaint online - cut and paste the url: http://www.ocregister.com/newsimages/news/2007/12/capistranovalleysuitcomplaint.pdf
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#1. To: scrapper2 (#0)
Once teachers get tenure, they think they are gods.
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