In December of 2007, the Farnan family sued the Capistrano Unified School District (Orange County, California), as well as one of its history teachers, James Corbett. The Farnan family charged that various remarks Corbett had made were an "exhibition of hostility toward religion and endorsement of irreligion in a public school classroom," thereby violating the First Amendment rights of their son, Chad, one of Corbett's students. Among the statements attributed to Corbett were, 'Conservatives don't want women to avoid pregnancies — that's interfering with God's work' and 'When you pray for divine intervention, you're hoping that the spaghetti monster will help you get what you want.'"

On May 1, 2009, District Judge James Selna identified only one of Corbett's statements as constitutionally impermissible: namely, his description of creationism as "superstitious nonsense." On July 13, 2009, in a "tentative ruling," Selna denied the Farnans' request for a declaratory judgment or injunction against Corbett or the school district. The case remains open, as questions of nominal damages and attorneys' fees have yet to be determined.

Key legal documents for this case are provided at the bottom of this page. They are arranged in chronological order.

Related NCSE Articles

Attachment	Size
12/11/2007: Plaintiff's Original Complaint	1.03 MB
1/15/08: Plaintiff's amended complaint	42.81 KB
3/19/08: Defendants' answer to amended complaint	226.35 KB
3/19/08: Intervention by teachers' union for defendants	357.53 KB
5/1/09: Court Ruling and Opinion	92.91 KB
5/22/09: Joint proposal by plaintiffs and defendants for disposition of remaining issues	778.23 KB
5/22/09: Union intervenors' addendum to joint proposal	98.85 KB
6/1/09: Civil minutes	7.82 KB
6/8/09: Defendants' motion for determination of qualified immunity	794.81 KB
6/8/09: Defendants' motion for leave to file amended answer	1.29 MB
6/8/09: Plaintiffs' supplemental briefing	1.32 MB
6/15/09: Defendants' opposition to plaintiffs' supplementary briefing	923.29 KB
6/15/09: Plaintiffs' opposition to defendants' motion for determination	89.39 KB
6/15/09: Plaintiffs' opposition to defendants' motion for leave to file	95.66 KB
6/15/09: Union intervenors' opposition to plaintiffs' supplemental briefing	479.58 KB
6/22/09: Defendants' reply to plaintiffs' opposition to defendants' motion for determination	617.98 KB
6/22/09: Defendants' reply to plaintiffs' opposition to defendants' motion for leave to file	437.05 KB
6/22/09: Plaintiffs' reply to defendants' opposition to plaintiffs' supplemental briefing	859.87 KB
6/22/09: Plaintiffs' reply to union intervenors' opposition to plaintiffs' supplemental briefing	517.21 KB
7/13/09: Court ruling denying plaintiffs' request for injunctive relief or declaratory judgment, also denying defendants' motion for leave to file amended answer and qualified immunity	59.65 KB
7/24/09: Defendants' motion for hearing on qualified immunity	962.41 KB
7/24/09: Defendants' new motion to amend scheduling of conference and to amend answer to complaint	1.32 MB
7/27/09: Court order denying Defendants' motions to file amended answer and to qualified immunity determination, denying plaintiff's request for injunctive and declaratory relief, deferring cons	62.11 KB
7/30/09: CTA joinder in defendants' motion for hearing on qualified immunity	70.39 KB
8/17/09: Plaintiff's opposition to motion for hearing on qualified immunity	734.79 KB
8/17/09: Plaintiffs' opposition to motion to amend scheduling of conference and answer to complaint	1.05 MB
8/18/09: Court order for statements on question of qualified immunity to be submitted by August 20	9.2 KB
8/20/09: Defendants' supplementary brief of the effect of union's pleading qualified immunity	222.41 KB
8/20/09: Union's supplementary brief of the effect of union's pleading qualified immunity	173.62 KB