ACLU Files Suit in Pa. Over Evolution

Galvatron · Post by **Galvatron** » 2004-12-15 09:43am

HARRISBURG, Pa. — The state American Civil Liberties Union (search) plans to file a federal lawsuit Tuesday against a Pennsylvania school district that is requiring students to learn about alternatives to the theory of evolution (search).

The ACLU said its lawsuit will be the first to challenge whether public schools should teach "intelligent design," which holds that the universe is so complex that it must have been created by some higher power.

The Dover Area School District (search) was believed to be the first in the nation to mandate intelligent design when it voted 6-3 in October in favor of including the concept in the science curriculum.

The ACLU and Americans United for Separation of Church and State have scheduled a news conference Tuesday to discuss the suit, which will be filed in U.S. District Court in Harrisburg, ACLU spokesman Paul Silva said Monday.

Neither Silva nor Joe Conn, a spokesman for Americans United for Separation of Church and State, would comment on the specifics of the complaint.

School superintendent Richard Nilsen had no comment Monday. Administrators have declined to comment on the mandate, which applies to ninth-grade biology classes at Dover High School, in rural south-central Pennsylvania.

School board member William Buckingham spearheaded the change as the leader of the board's curriculum committee. He has said that he proposed the change as a way of balancing evolution with competing theories that raised questions about its scientific validity.

At least one other district has recently become embroiled in federal litigation over teaching evolution. A federal judge in Georgia is considering the constitutionality of a suburban Atlanta district's decision to include a warning sticker about evolution in biology textbooks.

Last month, the Dover district issued a statement saying that state academic standards require the teaching of evolution, which holds that Earth is billions of years old and that life forms developed over millions of years.

But the statement also said Charles Darwin's theory "is still being tested as new evidence is discovered," and that intelligent design "is an explanation of the origins of life that differs from Darwin's view."

Additionally, district officials said they would monitor the lessons "to make sure no one is promoting but also not inhibiting religion."

The ACLU has said intelligent design is a more secular form of creationism, a Biblical-based view that credits the origin of species to God, and may violate the constitutional amendment that bars establishment of religion.

Post by **Kuja** » 2004-12-15 09:53am

Wow, the ACLU is actually doing something right for a change.

Post by **Ghost Rider** » 2004-12-15 10:00am

Good.

Sorry the bullshit that is "We want to make sure they have a full view of what is out there." is something that should be slammed down hard.

Might as well go back to the days of the Greeks and the four elements as an alternative of how science works.

Post by **Darth Wong** » 2004-12-15 10:34am

It's easy to tell people that Incompetent Design is a valid scientific hypothesis when scientific education is so pitiful that they don't know what a scientific hypothesis should look like.

Post by **Alyrium Denryle** » 2004-12-15 10:59am

Destructionator XIII wrote:Probably won't go far in court, though. And even if they do win, its going to take time. Still, its good that someone is doing something. Maybe this will help get the facts out to the general public.

It wont need to. Creationism has been smacked down by SCOTUS and itelligent design will be smacked down the same way. For example, an attourney could pull a play from the Creationism play book, and ask an ID proponent how often they get published in a mainstream scientific journal.. which is never.

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2004-12-15 11:07am

Huzzah for rational thought! I hope it spreads like the plague.

Ryoga · Post by **Ryoga** » 2004-12-15 11:55am

Of course, as DW said, this all depends on quality education. I still have a laugh at that time elsewhere when I brought up ID as an example of the American school system failing, and about half-a-dozen people leaped up to prove me right....err, wrong.

Lord Zentei · Post by **Lord Zentei** » 2004-12-15 11:37pm

Last month, the Dover district issued a statement saying that state academic standards require the teaching of evolution, which holds that Earth is billions of years old and that life forms developed over millions of years.

But the statement also said Charles Darwin's theory "is still being tested as new evidence is discovered," and that intelligent design "is an explanation of the origins of life that differs from Darwin's view."

They still don't get that the fact that the theory of evolution is "still being tested as new evidence is discovered" is precisely what makes it scientific in contrast to ID which has been debunked repeatedly. I submit that what the educational establishment needs to do is to explain how the scientific method works, as well as teaching mainstream theories.

Additionally, district officials said they would monitor the lessons "to make sure no one is promoting but also not inhibiting religion."

Oh, so the absence of ID in the curriculum "inhibits" religion. I guess these people's kids can't both go to school on weekdays and to church on Sundays.

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PS to GR: sorry about the double thread.

RedImperator · Post by **RedImperator** » 2004-12-15 11:52pm

I'm not certain this case, and similar ones like the one down in Georgia, are automatic home runs for the ACLU. The argument I'm hearing (specifically, the one they plan to use in Georgia), is that disclaimers about evolution don't violate the Establishment Clause because they don't specifically endorse anything, merely call attention to the fact that evolution is "in dispute".

Now, this is patent scientific nonsense, and the fact that there's no question (from the nature of the debates beforehand) it's religiously motivated should be enough to get it tossed, but the argument could come down to "Even if evolution ISN'T in dispute despite what the sticker says, inaccurate textbooks are not a First Amendment issue." To take an example with no religious motivation, if a high school in Georgia put a dislcaimer in all its history textbooks saying "The Trail of Tears is a theory, not a fact", it would be blatantly wrong but not a First Amendment issue. I don't think the argument will work, seeing as similar arguments for banning the teaching of evolution based on the fact the state has the right to control its own school cirricula were struck down (see Epperson v. Arkansas), but I'm not as confident as I'd like to be.

JME2 · Post by **JME2** » 2004-12-16 01:03am

Ah, yes. Another island in the sea of chaos. Very good.

HemlockGrey · Post by **HemlockGrey** » 2004-12-16 02:10am

Ah, yes. Another island in the sea of chaos. Very good.

Dude, Central PA is more like an island of chaos in a sea of order.

JME2 · Post by **JME2** » 2004-12-16 02:42am

HemlockGrey wrote:
Ah, yes. Another island in the sea of chaos. Very good.
Dude, Central PA is more like an island of chaos in a sea of order.

The island is meant to represent the efforts of those fighting against this country's transformation into a theocracy, which in turn is represented by the sea. But yes, the metaphor could be seen along those lines so perhaps I was in error.

2000AD · Post by **2000AD** » 2004-12-16 08:47am

So is the ACLU part of the government or something?

frigidmagi · Post by **frigidmagi** » 2004-12-16 08:49am

So is the ACLU part of the government or something?

Oh God No. They're an indepenent group of lawyers who canlledge laws on shakey Constitutional Grounds.

The Duchess of Zeon · Post by **The Duchess of Zeon** » 2004-12-16 08:50am

2000AD wrote:So is the ACLU part of the government or something?

Of course not. Incidentally, the easiest way to prove that you're from Europe to an American is to express the ludicrous idea that our government actually does anything.

2000AD · Post by **2000AD** » 2004-12-16 08:51am

frigidmagi wrote:
So is the ACLU part of the government or something?
Oh God No. They're an indepenent group of lawyers who canlledge laws on shakey Constitutional Grounds.

ok. It's just that i keep on hearing about the ACLU here in all the threads about stuff in universities and that and they sounded official.

Enforcer Talen · Post by **Enforcer Talen** » 2004-12-16 10:17am

they are a political organization designed to keep the constitution around.

as you can guess, they *really*

really

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