Tag Archives: ZZ: Coppedge v. Jet Propulsion Laboratory

LA Times: Coppedge found his lawyer, William Becker, through the Alliance Defense Fund, a Christian group that’s also helping fund Coppedge’s defense. Becker has also worked with the Discovery Institute, a prominent intelligent design group based in Seattle and a key force in helping portray Coppedge as a victim of religious bigotry. “There is a worldview war in this country,” Becker said in an interview. “There’s a battle between people who think religious people are trying to disrupt the integrity of the scientific method and those who know we’re not.”

San Gabriel Valley Tribune: An attorney for David Coppedge said his client was subjected to “stubborn and complete intolerance” of his beliefs while working for JPL. It was that attitude which hastened Coppedge’s firing, attorney William J. Becker, Jr. argued in a month-long trial that pitted science and religion in a way that was sometimes reminiscent of the 1920s Scopes Monkey Trial . . . Becker is an attorney with the Alliance Defense Fund, a conservative Christian group. Josh Youngkin, program officer in law and policy at Discovery Institute, which advocates from intelligent design and creation science, is assisting with the case of Coppedge’s behalf.

AP: David Coppedge, a former computer specialist with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, spent much of his free time advocating for the idea that a higher intelligence must have had a hand in creation. Now, a judge will decide if his commitment to that belief has also cost him his job.

Christian Post: The Alliance Defense Fund, and the Discovery Institute, a proponent of intelligent design, are both supporting Copp edge’s case.


Fox News: Intelligent design does not propose that there is a higher power, it doesn’t even suggest what the intelligent designer is or could be. It only explains that there are examples of design in nature that we can related to our own common experiences,” attorney William Becker told Fox News . . . The case has generated interest among supporters of intelligent design. The Alliance Defense Fund, a Christian civil rights group, and the Discovery Institute, a proponent of intelligent design, are both supporting Coppedge’s case.

Boston Globe (AP): The Alliance Defense Fund, a Christian civil rights group, and the Discovery Institute, a proponent of intelligent design, are both supporting Coppedge’s case. “There is basically a war on anyone who dissents from Darwin and we’ve seen that for several years,’’ said John West of the Seattle-based Discovery Institute.

Charlie Butts at One News Now: William Becker of the Los Angeles-based Becker Law Firm is an Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) ally representing Coppedge. He says JPL’s action is illegal discrimination. “Employees shouldn’t be threatened with termination and punished for sharing their opinion with willing co-workers just because the view being shared doesn’t fit the prevailing view in the workplace,” Becker contends. “Mr. Coppedge has always maintained that intelligent design is a scientific theory, but JPL has illegally discriminated against him on the basis of what it deems to be ‘religion.’”

Glendale News-Press: William Becker, an attorney with the nonprofit Alliance Defense Fund who is representing Coppedge, said his client was disciplined for his Christian beliefs. “They don’t have a policy against discussing religion and politics, so they essentially singled him out. He was forbidden from doing something everybody else was allowed to do,” Becker said . . . “Throughout the scientific and academic worlds in this country, if you dare insert what somebody perceives to be your evangelical Christian values — if they think you’re doing that — heads roll,” Becker said.

CNA: “Employees shouldn’t be threatened with termination and punished for sharing their opinion with willing co-workers just because the view being shared doesn’t fit the prevailing view in the workplace,” said Coppedge’s attorney William Becker, who is allied with the Alliance Defense Fund.

Alliance Defense Fund allied attorney William Becker will be available for media interviews following each day of a five-week trial that begins Thursday over a NASA mission specialist demoted by Jet Propulsion Laboratories for his beliefs about intelligent design.

InjuryBoard.com: The Institute is now highlighting a religious discrimination lawsuit brought by a former employee of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). David Coppedge was a 14-year veteran and the senior member of the JPL team that oversees computers for NASA’s mission to send a satellite to Saturn, one of the most complicated in its history . . . Mr. Coppedge is being defended by attorney William J. Becker Jr., who is supported by the Alliance Defense Fund, the outstanding group defending religious liberty across America.

ADF attorney Joe Infranco appeared on the Zeb Bell Show to discuss the NASA Intelligent Design Case. | MP3 – 23:10 mins | ADF Media: Specialist for NASA mission demoted, threatened with termination for sharing views on intelligent design

The David Coppedge Intelligent Design Case was a recent topic of discussion on Federal News Radio. | MP3 6:21 mins | ADF Media: Specialist for NASA mission demoted, threatened with termination for sharing views on intelligent design

ADF attorney Jordan Lorence appeared on the Janet Mefferd Show to discuss the case of a NASA specialist demoted for his Intelligent Design views. | MP3 17:37 mins | ADF Media information

Federal News Radio 1500: “Being aware of the theory of ‘intelligent design’ as a conversation topic in the general populace: good idea. Trying to convince co-workers that your idea is the correct one: bad idea. Doing that while working at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California: you might wind up on Federal News Radio. A press release on a suit filed by the Alliance Defense Fund states David Coppedge worked ‘team lead’ technical specialist on JPL’s Cassini mission to Saturn.” | ADF News Release

ADF attorney Jordan Lorence appeared on Moody Radio to discuss the case of a NASA Specialist demoted for belief in Intelligent Design. | MP3 8:11 mins | ADF Media

ADF attorney Kevin Theriot appeared on the Michael Medved Show to discuss the case of a NASA specialist demoted for his views on Intelligent Design. | MP3 32:52 mins| related ADF Media

Tom Temin and Amy Morris interview Bill Bransford, partner, Shaw, Bransford and Roth on 1500 AM Federal News Radio: “Everyone has opinions about the origin of life, but what happens when feds talk about those beliefs in the workplace? For one person at NASA’s jet propulsion laboratory in California, the answer was a demotion and a written warning. The Alliance Defense Fund has filed suit on behalf of a team lead for the lab’s Cassini mission to Saturn.”

OneNewsNow: “[Joe Infranco], senior legal counsel with the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF), reports that a lawsuit now has been filed in the case. ‘[Coppedge] was discussing intelligent design with willing co-workers, and intelligent design . . . deals with the scientific evidence for issues like the creation of universe and the creation of life,’ Infranco explains. ‘Although Mr. Coppedge was talking about intelligent design, he has been put in a position where he was discriminated against, because it was perceived by the employer he was speaking about religion.’” | ADF News Release

Discovery Institute | Evolution News & Views: “Alliance Defense Fund (ADF), a national legal organization whose allied attorneys have logged over 100 million dollars worth of pro bono hours of legal work, has issued a statement backing David Coppedge’s lawsuit against Jet Propulsion Laboratory.” | ADF News Release

ADF attorney Joe Infranco appeared on radio to to discuss this: Specialist for NASA mission demoted, threatened with termination for sharing views on intelligent design. | The Georgene Rice Show, MP3 13:05 mins | AFR Focal Point with Bryan Fisher, MP3 11:14 mins.

CitizenLink: “The Alliance Defense Fund has filed a complaint against Cal Tech’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in a case involving freedom of speech in the workplace. A NASA specialist working for JPL was demoted and threatened with termination for discussing Intelligent Design with willing co-workers. Alliance Defense Fund Senior Counsel [Joseph Infranco] said JPL deemed the discussions to be ‘religious.’”

LifeSiteNews: “‘Employees shouldn’t be threatened with termination and punished for sharing their opinion with willing co-workers just because the view being shared doesn’t fit what’s politically correct,’ said ADF Senior Counsel Joseph Infranco. ‘Mr. Coppedge has always maintained that ID is a scientific theory. Regardless, JPL has discriminated against him on the basis of what they deem is “religion.” The only discussion allowed is what fits the agenda. Stray, and you are silenced and punished. It just doesn’t fit with JPL’s otherwise fine reputation in the industry.’” | ADF News Release

Christian Post: “An amended complaint was filed Monday in a lawsuit against a NASA laboratory in California on behalf of an employee who was demoted for discussing his beliefs about intelligent design . . . Coppedge’s attorney, William J. Becker, Jr., who is part of the Alliance Defense Fund, argues, ‘Discussing the origins of the universe with willing co-workers is not punishable just because it doesn’t fit a prevailing view at JPL’ . . . ADF Senior Counsel Joseph Infranco commented, ‘Mr. Coppedge has always maintained that ID is a scientific theory. Regardless, JPL has discriminated against him on the basis of what they deem is “religion.” The only discussion allowed is what fits the agenda. Stray, and you are silenced and punished. It just doesn’t fit with JPL’s otherwise fine reputation in the industry.’”

“Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) reports that an allied attorney filed an amended complaint Monday in a lawsuit against Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) on behalf of an employee demoted, silenced, harassed, and threatened with termination for discussing his beliefs with willing co-workers about intelligent design as a scientific theory of life’s origins . . . ‘Employees shouldn’t be threatened with termination and punished for sharing their opinion with willing co-workers just because the view being shared doesn’t fit what’s politically correct,’ said ADF Senior Counsel [Joseph Infranco].”

“An Alliance Defense Fund allied attorney filed an amended complaint Monday in a lawsuit against Jet Propulsion Laboratory on behalf of an employee demoted, silenced, harassed, and threatened with termination for discussing his beliefs with willing co-workers about intelligent design as a scientific theory of life’s origins.”