SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO : Peloza Appeals Teaching Decision

Capistrano Valley High School teacher John Peloza, whose lawsuit against the Capistrano Unified School District was was struck down by a federal judge last month, has filed an appeal, his attorney said Tuesday.

Attorney Cyrus Zal said the appeal was filed last week with the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

“I’m personally optimistic about the appeal,” Zal said. “I feel we have issues that were not addressed by the district court’s dismissal of the case.”

Last month, U.S. District Judge David W. Williams threw out Peloza’s suit against the Capistrano Unified School District, in which Peloza claimed that the district abridged his First Amendment rights by forcing him to teach what he called the “religion” of evolution. Williams ruled that students have a right to be taught biology without religious bias and dismissed the suit. Later in the month, Peloza was reassigned to teach physical education.

Zal argued that the court decision was wrong in its determination that Peloza had taught creationism in his class.

Last year, Capistrano Unified officials reprimanded Peloza and told him to stop proselytizing his students and teaching that an “intelligent creator” had put man on Earth.