JURIST - Paper Chase: California high school sued over 'intelligent design' elective

[JURIST] A group of parents filed a lawsuit against Frazier Mountain High School [school website] on Tuesday, arguing that a religion-based class teaching an alternative to evolution should be removed from the curriculum because it violates the US Constitution. The suit claims that the class, taught by a minister's wife, violates separation of church and state and attempts to legitimize intelligent design theory [Natural History backgrounder; JURIST news archive] by introducing it as a philosophy class. The suit was filed by Americans United for Separation of Church and State [advocacy website], which obtained a federal court ruling [PDF text; JURIST report] in December ordering schools in Dover, PA to stop teaching intelligent design as an alternative to evolution in science classes. A course description sent to parents of students at the California high school in December said the challenged course, which is being offered as an elective, would examine "evolution as a theory and will discuss the scientific, biological and Biblical aspects that suggest why Darwin's philosophy is not rock solid." AP has more.

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