Law Commons^™

Tactics, Strategies, & Battles – Oh My!: Perseverance Of The Perpetual Problem Pertaining To Preaching To Public School Pupils & Why It Persists, Casey S. Mckay

University of Massachusetts Law Review

This Comment examines why a seemingly well-settled scientific issue, evolution through natural selection, continues to be the subject of so much legal controversy in public education. By exploiting misconceptions regarding the scientific method, religious special interest groups are able to persuade lawmakers to sneak religion into public school science classrooms across the country. This Comment considers the most recent incarnations of creationism and concludes by analyzing the impact the ongoing legal controversy has had on the American public’s understanding of science.

Opportunistic Evolution: How State Legislation Is Seeking To Redefine Academic Freedom To Permit Intelligent Design In The Classroom, Crystal Canterbury

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

Intelligent Design And Judicial Minimalism: Further Thoughts On The 'Is It Science?' Question, Jay D. Wexler

Faculty Scholarship

A few years ago, at a conference on religion in the public schools sponsored by the First Amendment Law Review at the University of North Carolina, I argued that although I thought Judge Jones' opinion in Kitzmiller' was mostly correct, the judge erred by deciding that Intelligent Design (ID) is not science. Although I continue to believe that teaching ID in public schools is unconstitutional-I have argued this point for a dozen years and will not reiterate my reasoning here -I also continue to agree with my original assessment of the judge's treatment of the so-called "is it science?" question. …

Does Changing The Definition Of Science Solve The Establishment Clause Problem For Teaching Intelligent Design As Science In Public Schools? Doing An End-Run Around The Constitution, Ann Marie Lofaso

The University of New Hampshire Law Review

[Excerpt] "When Charles Darwin published On the Origin of Species By Means of Natural Selection in 1859, it sparked some of the most contentious debates in American intellectual history, debates that continue to rage today. Although these debates have numerous political ramifications, the question posed in this paper is narrow: Does the Establishment Clause permit a particular assessment of current evolutionary theory – intelligent design (“ID”) – to be taught as science in American elementary and secondary public schools? This article shows that it does not.

To understand current disputes over whether and how to teach the origins of life …

The Constitutionality Of The Monkey Wrench: Exploring The Case For Intelligent Design, Johnny Buckles

Oklahoma Law Review

Teaching intelligent design in public schools has become an extremely controversial, and highly publicized, educational prospect that is just beginning to garner judicial attention. This Article argues that a proper resolution of the constitutional problems raised by teaching intelligent design requires both a precise understanding of intelligent design and evolutionary theory, and a sophisticated grasp of theological conceptions of the origin and development of life. After explaining these important foundational concepts and surveying the most relevant Supreme Court precedent, this Article discusses two important threshold questions that arise from the origins debate. First, is intelligent design theory inherently religious? Secondly, …

Seeing Government Purpose Through The Objective Observer's Eyes: The Evolution-Intelligent Design Debates, Kristi L. Bowman

ExpressO

In October, 2004, the Dover, Pennsylvania School District became the first in the nation to adopt a policy requiring students studying evolution to be told about the concept of intelligent design. Soon thereafter, parents filed a lawsuit challenging the policy as violating the Establishment Clause. But, Establishment Clause doctrine is one of the most splintered, incoherent areas of the Court’s jurisprudence—and even more so after the Court’s June 2005 McCreary County v. Kentucky decision. Read strictly, McCreary County imports the effects-endorsement “objective observer” into the government purpose inquiry. This subtle shift has significant ramifications: McCreary County changes the nature of …

Darwin, Design, And Disestablishment: Teaching The Evolution Controversy In Public Schools, Jay D. Wexler

Vanderbilt Law Review

The controversy over teaching evolution in public schools is once again hot news. Ever since the Supreme Court decided in 1987 that Louisiana could not constitutionally require teachers to give equal time to teaching creation science and evolution, critics of evolution have adopted a variety of new strategies to change the way in which public schools present the subject to their students. These strategies have included teaching evolution as a "theory" rather than as a fact, disclaiming the truth of evolutionary theory, teaching arguments against evolution, teaching the allegedly nontheistic theory of intelligent design instead of creationism, removing evolution from …

Darwin, Design, And Disestablishment: Teaching The Evolution Controversy In Public Schools, Jay D. Wexler

Faculty Scholarship

The controversy over teaching evolution in public schools is once again hot news. Ever since the Supreme Court decided in 1987 that Louisiana could not constitutionally require teachers to give equal time to teaching creation science and evolution, critics of evolution have adopted a variety of new strategies to change the way in which public schools present the subject to their students. These strategies have included teaching evolution as a "theory" rather than as a fact, disclaiming the truth of evolutionary theory, teaching arguments against evolution, teaching the allegedly nontheistic theory of intelligent design instead of creationism, removing evolution from …

When May A State Require Teaching Alternatives To The Theory Of Evolution? Intelligent Design As A Test Case, Stephen L. Marshall

Kentucky Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Of Pandas, People, And The First Amendment: The Constitutionality Of Teaching Intelligent Design In The Public Schools, Jay D. Wexler

Faculty Scholarship

Despite the Supreme Court's 1987 decision in Edwards v. Aguillard, striking down Arkansas' statute requiring equal time for the teaching of creationism and evolution, the debate over whether some form of creationism should be taught in public schools has recently enjoyed a resurgence. In this note, Jay Wexler applies the Supreme Court's Establishment Clause to a new variant of creationism that posits the existence of an intelligent designer as an alternative to evolution. Wexler argues that teaching intelligent design theory in the public schools violates the Establishment Clause. After explaining that the Supreme Court has always applied the Establishment Clause …