SANTA ANA – A federal judge today denied awarding $391,150 in attorneys’ fees and court-related costs to the defense team for high school teacher James Corbett, sued by a student two years ago for his anti-Christian classroom rhetoric.

U.S. District Court Judge James Selna said in an eight-page ruling that although the Capistrano Unified School District was not liable for Corbett’s actions, Capistrano was not eligible to recover any attorneys’ fees because student Chad Farnan’s lawsuit against the school district was not simply “a baseless, vexatious claim,” as Corbett’s attorneys had argued.

“C.F. (Chad Farnan) set out to prove a constitutional violation, and he did,” Selna said in his ruling. “The vagaries of the law in this area, from which Corbett benefitted, do not undermine the substantive validity of C.F.’s establishment clause claim, nor do they render his position frivolous.”

(Click here to read the judge’s ruling.)

Today’s ruling affirms a tentative decision by Selna more than a month ago against awarding attorneys’ fees to Corbett’s attorneys, and overturns an October decision by a federal court clerk to award $12,631 in court-related fees.

It also marks the end of the case at the trial court level, although both sides already have appealed Selna’s ruling to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

“We agree with the judge’s tentative (ruling) and are happy with this ruling, as we do not believe we should be paying costs for either the defendant, school district or the union interveners,” said Farnan’s attorney, Jennifer Monk. “In light of the fact that Dr. Corbett was found to have violated the constitution, the cost of attorneys’ fees should not be awarded to the defense.”

Corbett, an Advanced Placement European history teacher at Capistrano Valley High School in Mission Viejo, was found to have violated the First Amendment’s establishment clause when he referred to Creationism as “religious, superstitious nonsense” during a fall 2007 classroom lecture.

While Selna sided with Farnan in the May 2009 ruling, he found Capistrano not liable at the same time and, four months later, found Corbett not financially liable for his actions under a qualified immunity defense. It was qualified immunity that barred Farnan from seeking attorneys’ fees or court costs from Corbett, although Corbett’s attorneys attempted to get costs from Farnan.

“In the end, we didn’t get involved in this case to get attorneys’ fees or court costs,” said Michael Hersh, an attorney for the California Teachers Association union and a member of Corbett’s defense team.

Corbett’s defense team comprises attorneys for Capistrano Unified and the teachers union. Capistrano Unified had asked for $154,781.50 in attorneys’ fees and $8,483 in court costs, and the union had asked for $223,737.50 in attorneys’ fees and $4,148 in court costs – for a total of $391,150.

To determine whether attorneys’ fees should be awarded, the judge applied a legal test that essentially evaluated whether Farnan’s claim was “unreasonable, frivolous, meritless or vexatious.”

“The court finds it somewhat disturbing that the school defendants label C.F.’s position frivolous given that it was only application of the doctrine of qualified immunity that spared Corbett from liability,” Selna said in his ruling. “The premise of that defense – which the court accepted – was that there was no clearly established constitutional right on the facts of this case.”

A hearing to discuss the awarding of costs had been scheduled for today, but was canceled at the last minute after both parties agreed to accept the judge’s tentative ruling, which was released last week.

Today’s decision combined two issues that previously had been separate.

The judge originally planned to discuss the awarding of attorneys’ fees at a hearing last month, but canceled it at the last minute and rescheduled it for today.

The awarding of court costs originated with a federal court clerk, Milli Borgarding, the deputy in charge of the Santa Ana division of the U.S. District Court clerk’s office, who awarded the court fees to Corbett’s defense team as part of what is typically a routine procedural matter. But Farnan immediately appealed to the judge.

In the 9th Circuit, Corbett will seek to be exonerated; Farnan is seeking a stronger, broader judgment against Corbett.

“We feel strongly about the case and are looking forward to presenting our arguments to the 9th Circuit and getting a broader ruling than we were able to get in district court,” Monk said.