Man Sues Dept. Of Ed. Over Teaching Evolution To Aspiring Veterinarian Daughter

[RandySF]

A West Virginia man has decided to sue government officials for teaching evolution in schools, saying it is hampering his daughter's dream to become a veterinarian.

Kenneth Smith's lawsuit says that education officials are violating the Constitution and infringing the civil rights of his daughter by "propagating" the "religion" of evolution, according to the Charleston Daily Mail.

“Their actions during the 2014-2015 school year affects my child’s future directly through the state grading system to enter college and the ability to earn economic security and a good job in her chosen veterinarian medical field of work, by being taught a faith base (evolutionary ideology) that just doesn’t exist and has no math to back it,” the lawsuit reportedly said.

Acting as his own lawyer, Smith filed suit at the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia on May 12, suing everyone from the state Superintendent to U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, the Mail reported.


http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/kenneth-smith-west-virginia-evolution

[cali]

25. fun until the case gets swiftly chucked out

[Chiyo-chichi]

28. Acting as his own lawyer because William Jennings Bryan wasn't available.

[Orsino]

34. I assumed that we were hearing about it only because he was being bankrolled.

I guess that's a relief.

[Initech]

35. "A man who is his own attorney has a fool for a client."

[HereSince1628]

3. Evolution has not math to back it...that's just sad

and the guy thinks he knows something about the terrible things his daughter is being taught.

[hollysmom]

4. this does not compute - now if they are teaching creationism, that can qualify as a religion

and that can hurt your future in college if you want to be vet, with biology and such. are we sure this article is not just backwards? it doesn't seem to work for me the way it is written.

[muntrv]

5. No, your creationist belief is keeping your daughter from being a

veterinarian. She needs to know science.

[Arugula Latte]

6. Oh, she shouldn't learn the very basis of biology?

So sick of religious nuttery.

[RKP5637]

7. No wonder more and more people are leaving religion and its lies. Time to put lies, stories and

superstitions to rest and deal with reality, the reality of evolution. Unfit to be a parent!

[cyberswede]

8. Wait...what?

She wants to go into a scientifically-based field, and he thinks learning about evolution will hamper her chances?

Ok, let her write all about intelligent design on her first biology exam & see what kind of grade she gets.

[Warpy]

9. Whoa, spot the loony!

Veterinary school requires hard science and evolutionary science is part of that. Whether or not she chooses to compartmentalize it away in a "remember it long enough to pass the test" place, she's going to have to learn it long enough for that.

Fortunately, . “He Who Is His Own Lawyer Has a Fool for a Client” as the old legal adage goes. He doesn't have a chance of winning this one, not even in WV.

I just wonder if his daughter is old and sensible enough to be mortified that her daddy is publicly crazy.

[awoke_in_2003]

10. I would love to be in the gallery

during that trial

[hifiguy]

15. There won't be a trial.

Any judge worth the title will bounce this at the first hearing and probably slap this nitwit for court costs in the bargain.

[3catwoman3]

11. Well, if a lawyer who represents him/herself has...

...a fool for a client, that must be doubly true for a non-lawyer self-representing.

And his premise is totally bonkers.

[BklnDem75]

12. He's an author, too

http://www.amazon.com/The-True-Origin-Kenneth-Smith/dp/1475989660/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top?ie=UTF8


See the front page of his book? He's a real winner.

[HooptieWagon]

13. Read the reviews....

[BklnDem75]

16. I'm hoping for more

He needs many more 1 star reviews.

[hifiguy]

14. My experience as a judicial clerk

Tells me that this pinhead will get bounced out of court pronto but not before the judge dresses him down in no uncertain terms on the record and assessing court costs against him. Judges loathe nutty pro se litigants.

[silenttigersong]

17. The lord is my Sheppard

Perhaps,she could just use faith healing on a chimpanzee.Why she could start a church,and call it all dogs go to heaven

[struggle4progress]

18. Man who filed evolution-as-religion lawsuit filed earlier similar suits

Thursday, May 28, 2015
Andrea Lannom

... Kenneth Smith of Harpers Ferry filed one federal lawsuit in 2007 and another in 2010 ... In his 2007 federal lawsuit, Smith said the Jefferson County Board of Education restricted the “teaching of pertinent scientific and historical knowledge” by teaching the Human Genome Project ... He claimed in his lawsuit that while working at the Central Reference Laboratory in Anaheim, Calif., he discovered the “missing link” in his theory of the “Human Genetic Normal” ... In his 2010 federal lawsuit against the state and the National Institute for Health, Smith claimed the school system misappropriated tax dollars to support an “ideology scientific religious belief” ... Both lawsuits were ultimately dismissed ...

- See more at: http://www.charlestondailymail.com/article/20150528/DM02/150529281/1420#sthash.pE2gLXl2.dpuf

[Exilednight]

19. This should be interesting, but in West Virginia anything can happen. Pass the ....

[Solly Mack]

20. He's on a nugatory endeavor and doing a stellar job.

[Gloria]

21. Flu viruses mutate all the time, I call that Evolution for Dummies

Jeez, are these people for real? Infantile nonesense in their blind faith...

[Warpy]

22. A lot of these loonies are antivaxers, too

and have never accepted the germ theory of contagious illness. They'd rather pray and call in the preacher to cast out the demons if their own prayers fail to coax the patient out of bed and back to work.

[GreatGazoo]

23. Here is the math: Labrador + Poodle = Labradoodle n/t

[hobbit709]

24. Man publicly admits he has no brain.

[underpants]

27. Quite an assumption - does he have ANY idea how hard it is to get into a Vet school???

There are usually MAYBE two Vet schools in any state and it is very competitive to get accepted. The schools don't want to waste their time on someone who can't cut it so the acceptance process is exhaustive.

Up to 6 WV residents are accepted at out-of-state schools per year with in-state tuition rates.

Can't cut and paste - Google West Virginia vet schools and see the Marshall U pre-vet major link

[Johnyawl]

32. There are some states with NO Vet schools...

...My son just graduated from Washington State College of Veterinary Medicine (the only one in Washington State), and they are partnered with Idaho, Montana & Utah to provide "in-state" tuition spots for students from those three states as they do not have Vet schools themselves. The only states I know of that have more than one Vet school are NY and CA, and to my knowledge they each have one state Vet school and one private Vet school.

You're right, underpants, Vet schools are extremely difficult to get into, of my son's 105 classmates about 50% of them had to apply at least twice to get accepted. WSU brags about how rigorous their acceptance process and how successful they are at picking the right students. Four years after picking those 105 students they had 99 of them graduate.

[underpants]

36. Yep - relative in WV

She was a straight A's student getting a biology degree at U Miami. She applied to every surrounding state school (OSU Va Tech Pa State etc. ) and got turned down by all. Very very tough to get into one of those schools and the very few allotments from out of state are even harder.

[valerief]

29. Teh Stooopid never ends in 'Merka. nt

[dembotoz]

30. Feel sorry for the daughters whatever her qualifications are now overshadowed

[nichomachus]

31. Has anyone noticed the cover of his book?

Adam and Eve look pretty same sex to me.

That's pretty bizarre, even when you consider that the story of Adam and Eve is bizarre. In the bible, they don't evolve from some animal -- that would be demeaning. Instead, Adam is made from dirt and spit -- apparently because that's so much more dignified. Then, God clones Adam to make Eve, and Adam and his clone have sex.

It doesn't get more science fictiony than that.

[backscatter712]

37. She doesn't eat meat, so she's becoming a veterinarian... n/t

[B Calm]

38. Calling evolution a religion, weird. . .