"I struck down a particular act by a renegade school board that patently, clearly violated the establishment clause within the First Amendment to the Constitution," Jones said. "This was a group with a clear religious motivation that sought under cover of this concept known as intelligent design to get into public schools. In deciding that it wasn't science, I found that essential to the analysis."

And if you're thinking this is a liberal, "activist" judge, think again. As a matter of fact, the backers of intelligent design "rejoiced" when Jones was assigned to the case, said Ken Miller, a professor of biology at Brown University who testified on behalf of the science teachers.

"They said, 'Great! We've got a conservative Republican appointed by George W. Bush. This is the judge we need. This is going to be a great trial,"' Miller said. "That was their view of the judge's preconceptions."

"You've got to be careful what you wish for," Jones said with a laugh.

As far as the judge is concerned, this "Nova" should serve as a cautionary tale to all Americans.

"I think there's a lesson here for communities and how they elect their school board members," Jones said. "I think that probably many in Dover would concede that they were asleep at the switch when they elected these folks. And that might be, in addition to the science facet, one of the enduring lessons in this."

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E-mail: pierce@desnews.com