Tim Nicholson—whose deeply held belief in man-made climate change is akin to a philosophical belief and entitled to the same protection as a religious belief under employment equality laws, a British judge ruled—made an important point after leaving the hearing:

It’s a philosophical belief based on my moral and ethical values underpinned by scientific evidence and that’s the distinction [between it and a religious belief], I think. The moral and ethical values are similar to those that are promoted and adopted by many of the world’s religions, but one of the key differences, I think, is that mine is not a faith-based or spiritual-based belief; it is grounded in the overwhelming scientific evidence, and it’s the combination of that scientific evidence with the moral and ethical imperatives to do something about it that is distinct from a religion.

Christine Comer is appealing the dismissal of her case against the Texas Education Agency.
As you might remember, Comer was forced to resign as the agency’s director of science curriculum back in 2007 because she forwarded an email from the National Center for Science Education (a pro-evolution group) announcing that Barbara Forrest would be speaking in Austin about (and against) attempts to get “intelligent design” into science classes. The TEA says it has a policy that requires staff to be neutral when talking about evolution and creationism.
In 2008, Comer filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the policy, and in April, a federal judge dismissed the case. Now, Comer is asking the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to reverse the decision.

A teenager in California has won his lawsuit against a public school teacher who called creationism “superstitious nonsense” during a classroom lecture. Chad Farnan sued Capistrano Valley High School history teacher James Corbett for that and other anti-religion comments he said made Christians in the class feel uncomfortable, disparaged their beliefs, and violated the establishment clause of the First Amendment. The clause, which prohibits the government from making laws that establish religion, has been interpreted as also prohibiting government employees from promoting or showing hostility toward religion.
While a federal judge agreed that Corbett’s comment about creationism was an “improper disapproval of religion” and violated the student’s constitutional rights, he felt differently about the rest of Corbett’s statements because they did not directly refer to religion or were made within the context of the class. Corbett had also said that religion is not “connected with morality,” there was as much evidence for creationism “as there is that there is a gigantic spaghetti monster living behind the moon who did it,” and that “when you put on your Jesus glasses, you can’t see the truth.”
The judge, James Selna, said his ruling “reflects the constitutionally permissible need for expansive discussion even if a given topic may be offensive to a particular religion,” but also “reflects that there are boundaries. … The ruling today protects Farnan, but also protects teachers like Corbett in carrying out their teaching duties.”
Farnan, who says he’s not seeking monetary damages, plans to ask the court to prohibit Corbett from making similar anti-Christian statements in the future. —Heather Wax

The Institute for Creation Research has sued the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, which denied the institute’s request for state certification that would allow it to offer an online master’s degree in science education. In the lawsuit, the ICR claims the decision violates its civil rights and that it was discriminated against because its program would be based on “creation science” rather than evolution.
When the board denied the school’s request last year, Texas Higher Education Commissioner Raymund Paredes said the institute’s program wouldn’t prepare graduates to teach the state’s public school science standards, which include the study of evolution. —Heather Wax