TEEN TRIES TO DEBUNK EVOLUTION IN LAWSUIT
A Pennsylvania teen hopes to debunk the theory of evolution by taking his
former high school to federal court. Joe Baker, 19, filed a lawsuit this
week against Pennridge High School, claiming that his free-speech rights
were violated by a policy that required administrators to review his
creationism literature before he distributed it, "The Philadelphia
Inquirer" reported.

Before he graduated in June, the Perkasie resident fought the school
district for months over evolution. In March, Baker distributed flyers
pointing out what he called "errors" in the school's biology textbooks.
Noting a forthcoming school board meeting, the leaflets offered 10
questions that students should ask their science teachers challenging
evolution, the "Inquirer" reported. Baker's lawsuit seeks $1 plus legal
fees and wants the district's review policy declared unconstitutional.

"We just wanted to make the point on Joe's behalf -- it's the principle,"
said Ronald D. Rissler, of the Christian legal group Rutherford Institute,
which is representing Baker. "All he wants is policy changed, so others
who follow him in this school won't have their rights infringed." Baker, who
plans to attend the Montana Wilderness School of the Bible, is already
credited for bringing some changes to the district. In June, the school
board agreed to reconsider the use of a textbook contested by Baker, who
wrote his graduation paper about his "evolution into a creationist."

CNN Newsroom [May 3, 2001]
http://www.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0105/03/nr.00.html