July 31, 2001, Philadelphia Inquirer

Pennridge graduate sues over creationism
He says the district violated his free-speech rights by expecting to
review flyers challenging evolution.

By Zlati Meyer INQUIRER SUBURBAN STAFF

A recent Pennridge High School graduate has challenged the school district
in federal court, contending that his free-speech rights were violated by
a policy that requires administrators to review his creationism literature
before he distributed it.

The Rutherford Institute, a civil-liberties group based in
Charlottesville, Va., filed the suit on behalf of Joe Baker, 19, of Perkasie, who has
battled the school district for months.

On March 15, Baker passed out flyers in which he took issue with what he
said were errors in the school's biology textbooks. The flyers mentioned a
forthcoming school board meeting and suggested 10 questions that students
should ask their science instructors that were meant to challenge the
theory of evolution.

According to the complaint, school officials said Baker had violated
school policy by failing to give them two days to inspect his flyers and by
libeling a school biology teacher.

Baker has said he believes in creationism. Creationism is a biblical-based
view that Earth and most life appeared suddenly about 6,000 years ago.
Evolution, commonly covered in public school curriculums, states that the
Earth is billions of years old and that life developed over millions of
years.

The lawsuit, filed Wednesday, seeks $1 plus legal fees and asks the court
to declare the school district's review policy unconstitutional.

"We just wanted to make the point on Joe's behalf; it's the principle,"
said Ronald D. Rissler, legal coordinator for the Rutherford Institute, a
conservative legal group. "All he wants is policy changed, so others who
follow him in this school won't have their rights infringed."

Baker could not be reached for comment.

The suit also names Superintendent Robert S. Kish, principal Thomas J.
Creeden and assistant principal Keith Godshall as defendants.

"If this lawsuit is successful, the administration would have no control
over what students distribute," Kish said yesterday. He suggested that
school officials would not be able to prevent distribution of pornography,
hate material or instructions for bomb-making.

"The policy has been in place for lots and lots of years. This is the
first time someone found it objectionable - at least since I got here," said
Kish, who has been superintendent since November 1995.

David Kairys, a professor of constitutional law at Temple University's law
school, said students usually lose such cases.

He cited cases ranging from a 1969 ruling that allowed students to wear
black armbands to protest the Vietnam War, to a case in 1988 upholding the
rights of a school that pulled from its newspaper articles about divorce
and teen pregnancy.

Though Baker graduated in June, his efforts have brought some changes to
his district. In June, the school board adopted a formal process to let
residents ask the board to reconsider its use of a textbook, a policy
change that one school board member credits to Baker's efforts.

Baker, who wrote his graduation paper about his "evolution into a
creationist," has said he plans to attend the Montana Wilderness School of
the Bible.
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CNN Newsroom [May 3, 2001]
http://www.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0105/03/nr.00.html