Legal Cases

Peloza v. Capistrano Unified School District

U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit

Transcribed and formatted for the web by Clark Dorman


John E. PELOZA v. CAPISTRANO UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT
Nos. 92-55228, 92-55644.

United States Court of Appeals,

Ninth Circuit.

Argued and Submitted June 9, 1993. Filed July 25,1994.

Opinion Withdrawn Sept.20, 1994. Decided Oct. 4,1994.

SUMMARY

High school biology teacher brought action against school district, its board of
trustees, and various personnel at high school, challenging school district's
requirement that he teach evolutionism, as well as school district order barring
him from discussing his religious beliefs with students. The United States
District Court, Central District of California, David W. Williams, J., 782
F.Supp. 1412, dismissed and awarded attorney fees to school district. Teacher
appealed. The Court of Appeals held that: (1) teacher failed to state claim for
violation of establishment clause of First Amendment in connection with school
district's requiring him to teach evolution, i.e., that higher life forms
evolved from lower ones; (2) school district's restriction on teacher's right of
free speech in prohibiting teacher from talking with students about religion
during school day, including times when he was not actually teaching class, was
justified by school district's interest in avoiding establishment clause
violation; (3) teacher's allegations of injury to his reputation as result of
allegedly defamatory statements made to and about him were insufficient to
support claim for deprivation of liberty interest under § 1983; but (4)
teacher's complaint was not entirely frivolous, precluding award of costs and
attorney fees under Rule 11 and § 1988.

Affirmed in part; reversed in part.

John E. PELOZA, Plaintiff-Appellant
Cyrus Zal, Folsom, CA, for plaintiff-appellant.

CAPISTRANO UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT; Board of Trustees of the Capistrano Unified
School District; Paul B. Haseman; Crystal Kochendorfer; Marlene M. Draper;
Annette B. Gude; Kathryn I. Itzel; E.G. Kopp; A. Edward Westberg; Jerome R.
Thornsley; William D. Eller; Geraldine Jaffe; Thomas R. Anthony; Ross
Velderraine; James Corbett; Paul Pflueger; Ray Panici; Tim Dunn; William
Redding, Defendants - Appellees
David C. Larsen and Jeffrey Wertheimer, Rutan & Thoker, Costa Mesa, CA. for
defendants-appellees.


Appeal from the United States District Court for the Central District of
California.

Before: FLETCHER, POOLE and THOMPSON, Circuit Judges.
Per Curiam; Partial Concurrence and Partial Dissent by Judge POOLE.
PER CURIAM:

John E. Peloza is a high school biology teacher. He sued the Capistrano Unified
School District and various individuals connected with the school district under
42 U.S.C. § 1983. He alleges in his complaint that the school district requires
him to teach "evolutionism" and that evolutionism is a religious belief system.
He alleges this requirement violates his rights under the (1) Free Speech Clause
of the First Amendment; (2) Establishment Clause of the First Amendment; (3) Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment; and (4) Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.(1)

He also alleges the defendants conspired to violate these constitutional rights
and attempted by harassment and intimidation to force him to teach evolutionism.
He alleges they did this because they have a class-based animus against
practicing Christians, a class of which he is a member, in violation of 42
U.S.C. § 1985(3).

He also alleges state law claims for violation of California's Tom Bane Civil
Rights Act, Cal.Civ.Code § 52.1 (which provides a cause of action for
interference with an individual's enjoyment of rights secured by the United
States or California Constitution or by federal or state law), and for
intentional infliction of emotional distress.

The district court dismissed the federal claims for failure to state a claim
upon which relief could be granted. Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6). The court then
dismissed the state claims for lack of jurisdiction. The court also determined
that the action was frivolous. Relying on Rule 11 of the Federal Rules of Civil
Procedure and 18 U.S.C. § 1988, the court ordered Peloza and his attorney to pay approximately $32,000 to the defendants for their attorney fees and costs.

Peloza appeals. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291. We affirm, except
as to attorneys' fees.

THE ALLEGATIONS OF THE COMPLAINT

The following summarizes the allegations of Peloza's complaint:
Peloza is a biology teacher in a public high school, and is employed by the
Capistrano Unified School District. He is being forced by the defendants (the
school district, its trustees and individual teachers and others) to proselytize
his students to a belief in "evolutionism" "under the guise of [its being] a
valid scientific theory." Evolutionism is an historical, philosophical and
religious belief system, but not a valid scientific theory. Evolutionism is one
of "two world views on the subject of the origins of life and of the universe."
The other is "creationism" which also is a "religious belief system." "The
belief system of evolutionism is based on the assumption that life and the
universe evolved randomly and by chance and with no Creator involved in the
process. The world view and belief system of creationism is based on the
assumption that a Creator created all life and the entire universe." Peloza does
not wish "to promote either philosophy or belief system in teaching his biology
class." "The general acceptance of ... evolutionism in academic circles does not
qualify it or validate it as a scientific theory." Peloza believes that the
defendants seek to dismiss him due to his refusal to teach evolutionism. His
first amendment rights have been abridged by interference with his right "to
teach his students to differentiate between a philosophical, religious belief
system on the one hand and a true scientific theory on the other."

Peloza further alleges he has been forbidden to discuss religious matters with
students the entire time that he is on the school campus even if a conversation
is initiated by a student and the discussion is outside of class time.
He also alleges that the defendants have conspired to destroy and damage his
professional reputation, career and position as a public school teacher. He has
been reprimanded in writing for proselytizing students and teaching religion in
the classroom. His inquiries as to whether he is being required to teach
evolution as "fact" or "as the only valid scientific theory" have not been
answered directly. He has not taught creationism in his classroom. He has been
wrongly accused in the school newspaper and in the public press of teaching
religion in his science class. He has been harassed by the defendant teachers
and has received a formal written reprimand from defendant Thomas R. Anthony,
the school principal, wrongly accusing him of proselytizing his students and
teaching religion in the classroom, directing him to teach evolution as the only
valid scientific theory, and forbidding him from teaching creationism as a valid
scientific theory. Anthony further directed him not to discuss religion or
attempt to convert students to Christianity while on campus. He has been
criticized in a petition signed by faculty members for threatening litigation
over the rights of faculty members to speak fully to the news media and each
other.

STANDARDS OF REVIEW

We review do novo the grant of a Rule 12(b)(6) motion. Oscar V. University
Students Co-operative Ass':t, 965 F.2d 783, 785 (9th Cir.) (en banc), cert.
denied, - U.S.-,113 S.Ct. 655, 121 L.Ed.2d 581 (1992).

We review the award of attorney fees for abuse of discretion. Cooter & Gell V.
Hartmarr 6077)., 496 U.S. 384, 405, HO S.Ct. 2447, 246O-61, 110 L.Ed.2d 359
(1990) (under Fed.R.Civ.P. 11); Benigni V. City of Henvet, 879 F.2d 473, 480
(9th Cir.1988) (under 42 U.S.C. § 1988).

DISCUSSION

I. The Section 1983 Claim

A. The Establishment Clause

[1] To withstand an Establishment Clause challenge(2), a state statute, policy
or action (1) must have a secular purpose; (2) must, as its primary effect,
neither advance nor inhibit religion; and (3) must not foster an excessive
government entanglement with religions. Lemon V. Kurtzman, 403 U.S. 602, 612-13,
91 S.Ct. 2105, 2111, 29 L.Ed.2d,745 (1971).

Peloza's complaint alleges that the school district has violated the
Establishment Clause "by pressuring and requiring him to teach evolutionism, a
religious belief system, as a valid scientific theory." Complaint at 19-20.
Evolutionism, according to Peloza, "postulates that the 'higher' life forms ...
evolved from the 'lower' life forms ... and that life itself 'evolved' from
non-living matter." Id. at 2. It is therefore "based on the assumption that life
and the universe evolved randomly and by chance and with no Creator involved in the process." Id. at 1. Peloza claims that evolutionism is not a valid
scientific theory because it is based on events which "occurred in the
non-observable and non-recreatable past and hence are not subject to scientific
observation." Id. at 3. Finally, in his appellate brief he alleges that the
school district is requiring him to teach evolutionism not just as a theory, but
rather as a fact.

[2] Peloza's complaint is not entirely consistent. In some places he seems to
advance the patently frivolous claim that it is unconstitutional for the school
district to require him to teach, as a valid scientific theory, that higher life
forms evolved from lower ones. At other times he claims the district is forcing
him to teach evolution as fact. Although possibly dogmatic or even wrong, such a
requirement would not transgress the establishment clause if "evolution" simply
means that higher life forms evolved from lower ones.

Peloza uses the words "evolution" and "evolutionism" interchangeably in the
complaint. This is not wrong or imprecise for, indeed, they are synonyms.(3)
Adding "ism" does not change the meaning nor magically metamorphose "evolution" into a religion. "Evolution" and "evolutionism" define a biological concept: higher life forms evolve from lower ones. The concept has nothing to do with how the universe was created; it has nothing to do with whether or not there is a divine Creator (who did or did not create the universe or did or did not plan
evolution as part of a divine scheme).

[3] On a motion to dismiss we are required to read the complaint charitably, to
take all well-pleaded facts as true, and to assume that all general allegations
embrace whatever specific facts might be necessary to support them. Lujan V.
Nat'l Wildlife Federation, 497 U.S. 871, 889, 110 S.Ct. 3177, 3189, 111 L.Ed.2d
695 (1990); Abmmson V. Brownstein, 897 F.2d 389, 391 (9th Cir.1990). Charitably read, Peloza's complaint at most makes this claim: the school district's actions establish a state-supported religion of evolutionism, or more generally of
"secular humanism." See Complaint at 24, 20. According to Peloza's complaint,
all persons must adhere to one of two religious belief systems concerning "the
origins of life and of the universe:" evolutionism, or creationism. Id. at 2.
Thus, the school district, in teaching evolutionism, is establishing a
state-supported "religion."

We reject this claim because neither the Supreme Court, nor this circuit, has
ever held that evolutionism or secular humanism are "religions" for
Establishment Clause purposes. Indeed, both the dictionary definition of
religion(4) and the clear weight of the case law(5) are to the contrary. The
Supreme Court has held unequivocally that while the belief in a divine creator
of the universe is a religious belief, the scientific theory that higher forms
of life evolved from lower forms is not. Edwards V. Aguillard. 482 U.S. 578, 107
S.Ct. 2573, 96 L.Ed.2d 510 (1987) (holding unconstitutional, under Establishment Clause, Louisiana's "Balanced Treatment for Creation-science and
Evolution-Science in Public School Instruction Act").

Peloza would have us accept his definition of "evolution" and "evolutionism" and
impose his definition on the school district as its own, a definition that
cannot be found in the dictionary, in the Supreme Court cases, or anywhere in
the common understanding of the words. Only if we define "evolution" and
"evolutionism" as does Peloza as a concept that embraces the belief that the
universe came into existence without a Creator might he make out a claim. This
we need not do. To say red is green or black is white does not make it so. Nor
need we for the purposes of a 12(b)(6) motion accept a made-up definition of
"evolution." Nowhere does Peloza point to anything that conceivably suggests
that the school district accepts anything other than the common definition of
"evolution" and "evolutionism." It simply required him as a biology teacher in
the public schools of California to teach "evolution." Peloza nowhere says it
required more.

The district court dismissed his claim, stating:

Since the evolutionist theory is not a religion, to require an instructor to
teach this theory is not a violation of the Establishment Clause.... Evolution
is a scientific theory based on the gathering and studying of data, and
modification of new data. It is an established scientific theory which is used
as the basis for many areas of science. As scientific methods advance and
become more accurate, the scientific community will revise the accepted theory
to a more accurate explanation of life's origins. Plaintiffs assertions that
the teaching of evolution would be a violation of the Establishment Clause is
unfounded.

Id. at 12-13. We agree.

B. Free Speech

[4] Peloza alleges the school district ordered him to refrain from discussing
his religious beliefs with students during "instructional time," and to tell any
students who attempted to initiate such conversations with him to consult their
parents or clergy. He claims the school district, in the following official
reprimand, defined "instructional time" as any time the students are on campus,
including lunch break and the time before, between, and after classes:
You are hereby directed to refrain from any attempt to convert students to
Christianity or initiating conversations about your religious beliefs during
instructional time, which the District believes includes any time students are
required to be on campus as well as the time students immediately arrive for
the purposes of attending school for instruction, lunch time, and the time
immediately prior to students' departure after the instructional day.
Complaint at 16. Peloza seeks a declaration that this definition of
instructional time is too broad, and that he should be allowed to participate in
student-initiated discussions of religious matters when he is not actually
teaching class.(6)

The school district's restriction on Peloza's ability to talk with students
about religion during the school day is a restriction on his right of free
speech. Nevertheless, "the Court has repeatedly emphasized the need for allowing
the comprehensive authority of the States and of school officials, consistent
with fundamental constitutional safeguards, to prescribe and control conduct in
the schools." Tinker V. Des Moines Indep. Community School Dist, 393 U.S. 503,
506-O7, 89 S.Ct. 733, 737, 21 L.Ed.2d 731 (1969). "[T]he interest of the State
in avoiding an Establishment Clause violation 'may be [a] compelling' one
justifying an abridgment of free speech otherwise protected by the First
Amendment...." Lamb's Chapel V. Center Moriches Union Free School Dist., - U.S.,
113 S.Ct. 2141, 2148, 124 L.Ed.2d 352 (1993) (quoting Widmar V. Vincent, 4M U.S.
263, 271, 102 S.Ct. 269, 275, 70 L.Ed.2d 440 (1981)). This principle applies in
this case. The school district's interest in avoiding an Establishment Clause
violation trumps Peloza's right to free speech.

While at the high school, whether he is in the classroom or outside of it during
contract time, Peloza is not just any ordinary citizen. He is a teacher. He is
one of those especially respected persons chosen to teach in the high school's
classroom. He is clothed with the mantle of one who imparts knowledge and
wisdom. His expressions of opinion are all the more believable because he is a
teacher. The likelihood of high school students equating his views with those of
the school is substantial. To permit him to discuss his religious beliefs with
students during school time on school grounds would violate the Establishment
Clause of the First Amendment. Such speech would not have a secular purpose,
would have the primary effect of advancing religion, and would entangle the
school with religion. In sum, it would flunk all three parts of the test
articulated in Lemon V. Kurtzman,-403 U.S. 602, 91 S.Ct. 21O5, 29 L.Ed.2d 745
(1971). See Roberts V. Madigan, 921 F.2d 1047, 1O56-58 (loth Cir.1990) (teacher
could be prohibited from reading Bible during silent reading period, and from
stocking two books on Christianity on shelves, because these things could leave
students with the impression that Christianity was officially sanctioned), cert.
denied, -U.S. -, 112 S.Ct. 3025,120 L.Ed.2d 896 (1992).

The district court did not err in dismissing the part of Peloza's section 1983
claim that was predicated on an alleged violation of his right to free speech
under the First Amendment.

C. Due Process

[5] Peloza alleges that some of the defendants made defamatory statements to and
about him, and that these statements damaged his reputation. He alleges this was
state action which violated his right to due process under the Fourteenth
Amendment.

To state a claim under 42 U.S.C. ~ 1983 based on an alleged violation of due
process, Peloza must allege a deprivation of a life, liberty or property
interest within the meaning of the Fourteenth Amendment's Due Process Clause.
Board of Regents V. Roth, 408 U.S. 564, 571, 92 S.Ct. 2701, 27054)6, 33 L.Ed.2d
548 (1972). The injury Peloza alleges here is to his reputation. An injury to
reputation does not deprive Peloza of any interest in life. The district court
concluded that it did not deprive him of a liberty or a property interest.
Peloza concedes that his interest in his reputation is not a property interest.
He argues, however, that the alleged injury to his reputation deprived him of a
liberty interest sufficient to state a claim under section 1983 based on a due
process violation. We disagree.

In Siegert V. Gilley, 500 U.S. 226, 111 S.Ct. 1789, 114 L.Ed.2d 277 (1991), the
Court laid to rest the notion that reputation alone is a sufficient interest to
give rise to due process rights. In that case, Siegert, a psychologist working
for the federal government, resigned from his job in Washington, D.C. to avoid
being fired. Id. at 227-29, 111 S.Ct. at 1791. He applied for a job in an Army
hospital in Germany which required that he be "credentialed." This involved
asking his former employer for information about him. Id. His former supervisor
responded to the request for information with a letter which said "that he
'consider[ed] Dr. Siegert to be both inept and unethical, perhaps the least
trustworthy individual I have supervised in my thirteen years [here].'" Id. The
Court held that Siegert had no cause of action for deprivation of liberty under
the Due Process Clause because "injury to reputation by itself was not a
'liberty' interest...." Id. at 233, 111 S.Ct. at 1794; see also Paul V. Davis,
424 U.S. 693, 712, 96 S.Ct. 1155, 1165-66, 47 L.Ed.2d 405 (1976); Cooper V.
Dupnik, 924 F.2d 1520, 1532 (9th Cir.1991), cert. denied, - U.S. - ,113 S.Ct.
407, 121 L.Ed.2d 332 (1992); Ronald D. Rotunda & John E. Nowak, Treatise on
Constitutional Law § 17A(d) (1992).

Like Dr. Siegert's, Peloza's allegations of injury to his reputation are
insufficient to support a claim for deprivation of a liberty interest under
section 1983. Peloza's citations to dicta in pre-Paul cases that suggest
reputation alone is protected in this context are unavailing.

The district court did not err in dismissing the part of Peloza's section 1983
claim which was predicated on an alleged violation of his right to due process
under the Fourteenth Amendment.

II. The Section 1985(3) Claim

In support of his claim under 42 U.S.C. §1985(3), Peloza alleges in his
complaint that the defendants conspired to deprive him of equal protection of
the laws under the Fourteenth Amendment; free speech under the First and
Fourteenth Amendments; life, liberty or property without due process of law
under the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments; and the free exercise of his
religious beliefs under the First and Fourteenth Amendments. In addition, he
alleges the defendants violated his rights under the Establishment Clause of the
First and Fourteenth Amendments. He alleges that the defendants engaged in this
conspiracy pursuant to their class-based animus against practicing
Christians.(7)

As we stated previously, Peloza's allegations are insufficient to support a
claim based on a violation of his constitutional rights of free speech and due
process. Accordingly, his allegations of a conspiracy to violate these
constitutional rights do not state a claim. See Great American Fed. S & L Ass'n
V. Novotny, 442 U.S. 366, 372, 99 S.Ct. 2345, 2349, 60 L.Ed.2d 957 (1979)
("Section 1985(3) provides no substantive rights itself; it merely provides a
remedy for violation of the rights it designates. ").

Because Peloza failed to allege a conspiracy to do something that would violate
his free speech or due process rights, or his rights under the Establishment
Clause, his section 1985(3) claim predicated on a violation of these rights
falls. We do not decide whether free speech, due process rights, or
Establishment Clause rights, fall within the protection of section 1985(3).(8)

III. State Law Claims

Peloza's state law claims were pendent to his federal claims and were dismissed
for lack of jurisdiction when the district court dismissed all the federal
claims. We affirm their dismissal.

IV. Attorney Fees

Peloza contends the district court erred in awarding the defendants costs and
attorney fees of approximately $32,000. This award, made by the district court
under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11 and 42 U.S.C. ~1988, was appropriate if
Peloza's complaint is frivolous. Christianburo Garment Co. V. E.E.O.C., 434 U.S.
412, 422, 98 S.Ct. 694, 7004)1, 54 L.Ed.2d 648 (1978) (under civil rights
statutes); Townsend V. Holman Consulting Corp., 929 F.2d 1358, 1362 (9th Cir.
1990) (en banc) (under Fed.R.Civ.P. 11).

[6] Peloza's complaint is not entirely frivolous. Some of the issues he raises
present important questions of first impression in this circuit. His free speech
claim involves substantial questions and requires the balancing of rights of
free speech against the Establishment Clause, a matter upon which the Supreme
Court recently commented in Lamb's Chapel. Accordingly, we reverse the district
court's award of attorney fees and costs to the defendants.

V. CONCLUSION

The district court correctly dismissed Peloza's section 1983 claim based on
allegations of a violation of his constitutional rights under the Establishment
Clause and his rights to free speech and due process. He failed to allege
sufficient facts to state a violation of these rights. The district court also
correctly dismissed Peloza's claim under 42 U.S.C. § 1985(3), because he failed
to allege facts sufficient to state a violation of those rights; assuming,
without deciding, that they fall within the protection of section 1985(3).
We affirm the dismissal of the complaint. We reverse the district court's award
of attorney fees to the defendants.

The parties shall bear their own costs on appeal.

AFFIRMED IN PART; REVERSED IN PART.


POOLE, Circuit Judge, concurring in part and dissenting in part:
I am in agreement with the majority's resolution of John Peloza's Establishment
Clause and Due Process Clause claims. However, because I believe we can dismiss
Peloza's free speech claims only by turning a deaf ear to the procedural posture
of this case, I respectfully dissent from parts I. B and II of the majority
opinion.

I

Schoolteacher John Peloza seeks a declaratory judgment permitting him to
"respond to student-initiated inquiries ... regarding religion" during contract
time. The majority opinion concludes that if Peloza's discussions would
constitute an establishment of religion, the District may permissibly limit
those discussions, even though such limitations restrict Peloza's free speech.
With this I have no quarrel. But the majority's premise is that any discussions
Peloza might have do constitute such an establishment, and I am unpersuaded that
we may reach such a conclusion in the case's present posture.

This is an appeal from the granting of a Rule 12(b)(6) motion. As such, we are
not permitted to affirm dismissal of the complaint "unless it appears beyond
doubt that plaintiff can prove no set of facts in support of his claim which
would entitle him to relief." Love V. United States, 915 F.2d 1242, 1245 (9th
Cir.1989). At this stage, we know almost nothing about what past or future
discussions might involve. I can imagine a wide range of circumstances and
questions "regarding religion" which Peloza could permissibly answer without
violating the Establishment Clause. For example, a student might come to a
teacher during lunch and ask about Malcolm X or Martin Luther King's religious
beliefs, and how and why they evolved, or about the origins of Islam, or what
the seven great religions of the world were. Such questions would certainly be
"regarding religion," student-initiated, and during contract time. As such, they
fall within the class of discussions Peloza seeks to be permitted, yet it is
hard to see how the descriptive role a teacher would have in responding to these
questions would work any violation of the Establishment Clause.

The majority holding only makes sense if we presume that we know what kinds of
questions are being asked and what kinds of answers Peloza would give. In the
posture of this case, where we must reverse if there are any facts Peloza could
conceivably prove which would entitle him to relief, this is a presumption we
are forbidden from making. As a result, the majority holding means that any
response to a student-initiated inquiry "regarding religion" during contract
time, other than "Ask someone else," works a violation of the Establishment
Clause. I cannot join in such a broad legal holding, and indeed the case law
forbids it:

In each case, the inquiry calls for line-drawing; no fixed, per se rule can be
framed. The Establishment Clause like the Due Process Clauses is not a precise,
detailed provision in a legal code capable of ready application.... The line
between permissible relationships and those barred by the Clause can no more be
straight and unwavering than due process can be defined in a single stroke or
phrase or test. The Clause erects a "blurred, indistinct, and variable barrier
depending on all the circumstances of a particular relationship." Lemon V.
Kurtzman, 403 U.S. [602, 614, 91 S.Ct. 2105, 2112, 29 L.Ed.2d 745 (1971)]. Lynch
V. Donnelly, 465 U.S. 668, 678-79, 104 S.Ct. 1355,1362, 79 L.Ed.2d 604 (1984).
Roberts V. Madigan, 921 F.2d 1047 (10th Cir.1990), upon which the majority
relies, is not to the contrary. There, the court had before it a host of
particulars: the conduct at issue involved a teacher displaying religious books
and a poster reading "You have only to open your eyes to see the hand of God" in
the classroom. Id. at 1049. That court also had the benefit of a district court
factual determination that the conduct "created the appearance that [the
teacher] was seeking to advance his religious views." Id. As this case stands,
we know far less.

The majority impermissibly attempts to narrow the scope of Peloza's complaint by
relying on a written warning from the school district which Peloza has
incorporated into the complaint. The letter forbids Peloza from "attempt[ing] to
convert students to Christianity or initiating conversations about your
religious beliefs." Complaint at ¶ 45. Were this all that the complaint said, I
would have little trouble joining the majority. But the complaint alleges more;
it contends that "the school district ... has directed Plaintiff not to discuss
any religious matters during any of this 'instructional time,' including
student-initiated conversations regarding religion during lunch, class breaks,
and before and after school hours." Complaint at ¶ 3. This allegation we must
take as true. If all that lies behind it is the far narrower warning the
majority cites, then Peloza's case will not be long for this world. But we may
not presume that this is so.

I believe that, in a broad range of cases, the majority and I could agree about
what would or would not constitute a violation of the Establishment Clause. But
the majority errs in presuming to know that what is at stake here is Peloza's
right to "discuss his religious beliefs" with students. In doing so, it ignores
the fact that this is a Rule 12(b)(6) case. More generally, it gives short
shrift to the possibility that we may well be limiting free speech more broadly
than the state's compelling interest in avoiding an establishment of religion
would warrant.

II

I join in the majority's part II insofar as it dismisses Peloza's § 1985(3) due
process and Establishment Clause claims based on his failure to properly allege
a violation of these rights. However, because I conclude that Peloza's free
speech claim should not have been dismissed, I would also remand, rather than
dismiss, his 1985(3) claim based on alleged free speech violations.

III

Religion has been used to justify the suppression of speech for centuries. See
Everson V. Board of Ed,, 330 U.S. 1, 8-10, 67 S.Ct. 504, 5074)9, 91 L.Ed. 711
(1947). With the development of a vigorous First Amendment jurisprudence, we
have quelled some of the worst abuses. But points of tension remain. We must
thus remain vigilant to ensure that in our rush to preserve certain fundamental
rights, we do not trample others. Caution is of the essence; only through a
methodical and fact-specific jurisprudence can we hope to achieve a proper
accommodation.

For the reasons stated above, I respectfully dissent.

1. On appeal, Peloza abandoned his equal protection argument.

2. The Establishment Clause of the First Amendment provides that "Congress shall
make no law respecting an establishment of religion..." The Fourteenth Amendment
incorporates the Establishment Clause's prohibitions against offending state
action as well. Board of Education v. Pico, 457 U.S. 853, 864, 102 S.Ct.2799,
2806-07, 73 L.Ed.2d 435 (1982).

3. See Webster's Third New Int'l Dictionary (G. & C. Merriam Co. Springfield,
MA. 1969). p.789 ("evolutionism: 1: a theory of evolution (as in philosophy,
biology, or sociology) - See Darwinism 2: adherence to or belief in evolution
esp. of living beings").

4. According to Webster's, religion is the "belief in and reverence for a
supernatural power accepted as the creator and governor of the universe."
Webster's II New Riverside University Dictionary 993.

5. See Smith v. Board of School Com'rs of Mobile County, 827 F.2d 684, 690-95
(11th Cir.1987) (refusing to adopt district court's holding that "secular
humanism" is a religion for Establishment Clause purposes; deciding case on
other grounds); United States v. Allen, 760 F.2d 447, 450-51 (2d Cir.1985)
(quoting Tribe, American Constitutional Law 827-28 (1987), for the proposition
that, while "religion" should be broadly interpreted for Free Exercise Clause
purposes, "anything 'arguably non-religious' should not be considered religious
in applying the establishment clause").

6. The dissent claims this interpretation impermissibly narrows the scope of
Peloza's complaint. However, the very sentence quoted by the dissent, Dissent at
p.12064, focuses not on the definition of "religious matters," but on the
definition of "instructional time." We agree with the dissent that a complaint
must be read charitably at the Rule 12(b)(6) stage. However, a reviewing court
need not go so far as to invent claims not within the reasonable intendment of
the complaint.

7. As with his equal protection claim under section 1983, Peloza appears to have
dropped his equal protection claim from his appeal to this court.

8. See United Brotherhood of Carpenters & Joiners of America, Local 610, AFL-CIO
v. Scott, 463 U.S. 825, 830, 103 S.Ct. 3352,3357, 77 L.Ed.2d 1049 (1983) (hate
speech rights protected by section 1985 so long as the State is involved in the
conspiracy alleged). As to due process rights, there appears to be some
confusion within this circuit. Older cases have stated that section 1985(3)
provides no remedy for violation of due process rights, Cohen V. Norris, 300
F.2d 24, 28 (9th Cir. 1962) (dicta); Mitchell V. Greenough, 100 F.2d 184, 187
(9th Cir.1938) (holding), cert. denied. 306 U.S. 659, 59 S.Ct. 788, 83 L.Ed.
1056 (1939). In some more recent cases, we have allowed claims of due process
violations to proceed under section 1985(3) without comment. See Judie V.
Hamilton. 872 F.2d 919,924 (9th Cir.1989); Padway V. Palches. 665 F.2d 965, 969
(9th Cir. 1982). See Taylor V. Gilmartin, 686 F.2d 1346, 1358 (10th Cir.1982)
(First Amendment freedom of religion protected by section 1985(3)). cert.
denied, 459 U.S. 1147, 103 S.Ct. 788,74 L.Ed.2d 994 and cert. denied, 463 U.S.
1229, 103 S.Ct. 3570, 77 L.Ed.2d 1411 (1983); Action V. Gannon. 450 F.2d 1227,
1234 (8th Cir.1971) (satne); Cooper V. Molko, 512 F.Supp. 563, 570
(N.D.Cal.1981) (same); but see Africa V. Anderson, 510 F.Supp. 28, 30
(E.D.Penn.1980) (freedom of religion not protected by section 1985(3)).