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Full-Text Articles in Law
Intelligent Judging: Evolution In The Classroom And The Courtroom, George J. Annas
Intelligent Judging: Evolution In The Classroom And The Courtroom, George J. Annas
Faculty Scholarship
Religious arguments have permeated debates on the role of the law in medical practice at the beginning and the end of life. But nowhere has religion played so prominent a role as in the century-old quest to banish or marginalize the teaching of evolution in science classes. Nor has new genetics research that supports evolutionary theory at the molecular level dampened antievolution sentiment. Requiring public-school science teachers to teach specific religion-based alternatives to Darwin's theory of evolution is just as bad, in the words of political comedian Bill Maher, as requiring obstetricians to teach medical students the alternative theory that …
Intelligent Design And The First Amendment: A Response, Jay D. Wexler
Intelligent Design And The First Amendment: A Response, Jay D. Wexler
Faculty Scholarship
In September 2005, a federal district judge in Pennsylvania began presiding over the nation's first trial regarding the constitutionality of introducing the concept of "intelligent design" (ID), a purportedly scientific alternative to the theory of evolution, into the public schools. My previous work has argued that teaching ID in the public schools would raise serious constitutional problems. In a series of writings, including a full length book and several articles, Baylor University professor Francis Beckwith has argued that public schools may constitutionally teach ID. In doing so, Beckwith has critiqued a number of arguments I have previously advanced in my …