Law Commons^™

The First Amendment And Licensing Biology Teachers In Creationism, Benjamin W. Emerson

University of Richmond Law Review

The constitutional provisions separating church and state have long provided fertile ground for conflict resulting in often-bitter courtroom battles. From the famous Scopes "monkey trials" of 1927 in which Clarence Darrow eloquently argued for the teaching of Darwin's theory of evolution in the public schools, through the decisions of the sixties, seventies, and eighties banning prayer, the posting of the Ten Commandments, and similar practices, the conflict has finally come full circle, with fundamentalist Christian groups now arguing that the Biblical account of creation should be taught in public schools as scientific theory.