Ed Brayton is a journalist, commentator and speaker. He is the co-founder and president of 
The endlessly litigious Larry Caldwell has lost his lawsuit against the Roseville school district in California. Caldwell's suit claimed that the school board violated his constitutional rights by not giving due consideration to his proposals to put anti-evolution material into science classes. The court granted summary judgment in favor of the school district, which is pretty much a thorough smackdown.
Here are the basic facts: Caldwell wanted the board to use a bunch of supplemental materials - do I really need to point out that those materials were all of the standard anti-evolution arguments that creationists/IDers have been peddling all along? - in their classes along with the usual biology textbooks. He absolutely bombarded the school board with emails, phone calls, written requests and other contacts over the course of several months.
Caldwell filed complaint after complaint about the school board not putting his demands on the agenda for a vote. On June 1, 2004, the school board considered the proposal, took a vote and rejected it 3-2. As far as the court was concerned, that was the end of it. Caldwell filed suit anyway, as if he had some right to be agreed with by the school board.
He also tried the same thing the state board of education in Texas tried, claiming that there were errors of fact in the Holt biology textbook that the school adopted for use in biology classes in 2003. He sent the board a report written by Cornelius Hunter detailing what he claimed were inaccuracies - again, the same long-discredited arguments used by creationists/IDers for years - in that textbook. The school rejected his analysis.
The school went through all the supplemental material Caldwell proposed, had actual scientists review them and find them to be nonsense. The science teachers at the school voted unanimously not to use them. The school board rejected it. End of discussion. Caldwell had every chance to make his case and they didn't buy it. The bottom line is this: Caldwell made himself a huge pain in the ass and didn't get his way, so he threw a hissy fit and filed a lawsuit that the court rightly dismissed.
Comments
When has the anti-evolution movement been anything other than a hissy fit? If creationism and ID had a real bone to pick that their work would appear in peer reviewed journals and at scientific conferences, but they don't. The real (rhetorical) question is why Caldwell is petitioning school boards instead of scientists.
Posted by: Eric in Id(aho) | September 11, 2007 6:10 PM
I assume the second sentence should read:
Posted by: qetzal | September 11, 2007 6:21 PM
Here's hoping the school board files and the court grants a big, fat motion for fees and costs.
Posted by: Dan | September 11, 2007 6:27 PM
@quetzal - They gave his proposal all the consideration it was due, and then dismissed it.
Unless you mean that it wasn't due any consideration at all. Which you might, since it's true. But dismissing it out-of-hand would have given him something resembling grounds to complain.
Posted by: The Ridger | September 11, 2007 6:54 PM
I knew Hunter was crankish, but to work with Caldwell in any capacity is whacko.
Posted by: Whatever | September 11, 2007 8:41 PM
Cornelius Hunter gets an indirect smackdown. Isn't this guy who claims to be a biophysicist and yet talks like he knows nothing. At least in the case of Scott Minnich, we have a person who conducts real lab research; though he knows nothing about education or has nothing to show for his "ID". Hunter it seems knows neither biphysics nor the 'law'. There must be much gnashing of teeth over at the DI and UD. Delightful!
Posted by: rimpal | September 11, 2007 9:57 PM
It keeps blowing my mind that people are so willing to propose iron and bronze age arguments in front of information age courts of law as if they were somehow valid. Go figure.
Posted by: Peter | September 11, 2007 10:14 PM
Ed,
I was there every mucky step of the way. That is about the best summary of the whole debacle I've seen.
Posted by: WCD | September 12, 2007 12:05 AM
Ridger, reread the post. Ed writes;
"The school went through all the supplemental material Caldwell proposed, had actual scientists review them and find them to be nonsense. The science teachers at the school voted unanimously not to use them."
Caldwell wasn't dismissed "out-of-hand." He got plenty of consideration. He just didn't get his way.
Posted by: hoary puccoon | September 12, 2007 2:02 AM
One note to make is that the court refused to go into the merits (i.e. the lack thereof) of Caldwell's materials:
The judge limited himself to "whether Larry Caldwell was denied access to speak in various fora or participate in certain processes because of his actual or perceived religious beliefs." From the judge's description of events, the board bent over backwards and forwards for this doofus and, instead of producing any evidence of bias, all Caldwell offered was "conclusory arguments that he was discriminated against on the basis of his religion."
In short, he did nothing but whine.
Posted by: John Pieret | September 12, 2007 7:00 AM
To see more details of exactly how "crankish" Hunter is,
the link goes to an excellent pasting of Hunter by the regulars at ATBC.
In brief, Hunter was invited to post at ATBC and defend his ID position, but eventuially wound up running away.
His mistake in identifying a Thalacine and a wolf is typical ID behavior and stupidity. Enjoy
http://scienceblogs.com/dispatches/2007/09/caldwell_loses_suit.php
Posted by: J-Dog | September 12, 2007 9:01 AM
Wait. Doesn't Dr. Hunter work at Biola - the Biology Institute Of Los Angeles?
Posted by: terryf | September 12, 2007 9:40 AM
"Wait. Doesn't Dr. Hunter work at Biola - the Biology Institute Of Los Angeles?"
as their staff biblophysicist!
Posted by: Tracy P. Hamilton | September 12, 2007 10:33 AM
J-dog, your link got busted by scinceblogs. Might want to try it again
Posted by: W. Kevin Vicklund | September 12, 2007 11:42 AM
" "Wait. Doesn't Dr. Hunter work at Biola - the Biology Institute Of Los Angeles?"
as their staff biblophysicist! "
This is all good, clean, family fun, but I worry. There are folks out there who may not get the joke outlined above; so as a public service to all the folks out there in lurker-land, I offer the following link to BIOLA's website. Although they refer to their institution as "Biola" this is actually an acronym--and it has nothing to do with biology.
http://100.biola.edu/index.cfm?pageid=30
They make little secret that they subscribe to a fundamentalist Christian stance of biblical-literalism and biblical-inerrancy. These views together are incompatible with, and antithetical to, science.
Posted by: J. L. Brown | September 12, 2007 12:50 PM
Cueing Larry Fafarman in five, four, three...
Posted by: George Cauldron | September 12, 2007 7:22 PM
Hasn't anyone noticed that despite "The school ..... had actual scientists review them and find them to be nonsense.", there was a 3-2 vote by the school board NOT to include the material? That's pretty close vote. Doesn't that worry anyone?
Posted by: Oldfart | September 12, 2007 10:33 PM
It is a little worrisome but, the make-up of the board has changed.
Caldwell's most important allies on the board have gone. One (Forman) moved out of the voting district (unfortunately still active in the county Republican party) and a second (Lafferty) sadly died (of cancer). The cancer started as an epithelial melanoma. Her heritage being Northern European (caucasian anyway), with a mutation causing her to be less resistant to UV radiation, I guess evolution beat her in more ways than one. Not bashing her, just making an observation.
Posted by: WCD | September 14, 2007 12:48 AM