Federal Appeals Court Rejects Chris Comer’s Lawsuit Alleging Discrimination Against Evolution

In 2007, Chris Comer was forced to resign from her job at the Texas Education Agency (TEA). She then filed a lawsuit alleging she was forced to “stay neutral on creationism,” and claimed that TEA’s “neutrality” policy violated the First Amendment. We reported last year when Comer lost on summary judgment at the federal district court level. Comer then appealed her case to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, which filed its ruling on July 2 upholding the district court’s decision and tossing Comer’s case. The Fifth Circuit held, “we find no evidence to support the conclusion that the principal or primary effect of TEA’s policy is one that either advances or inhibits religion, we conclude that the policy does Read More ›

Texas Evolution Lobby Dealt Another Blow With Dismissal of Chris Comer Lawsuit

Last fall, John West blogged about a press release from Texans for Better Science Education (TBSE) about Chris Comer’s lawsuit against the Texas Education Agency (TEA), a lawsuit which has been highly touted by the NCSE and other evolution lobbyists as purported evidence of discrimination against evolutionists. They claimed that Comer was “expelled for real,” and the national newsmedia uncritically bought the story hook, line and sinker. As TBSE’s timeline of Chris Comer’s disciplinary problems observed, “News reports of Comer’s departure have parroted the claim that Comer was ‘fired’ because she opposed teaching ‘creationism’ and ‘intelligent design’ and supported evolution.” The reality is that Comer was not “fired” and her resignation came because (as West put it), “TEA documents … Read More ›