Intelligent Design Special Legal Update: Federal Court Throws Out Evolution Disclaimer Ruling in Georgia

For more information about the Selman vs. Cobb Co. trial visit our trial resource page here.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit has thrown out the trial court decision ruling that evolution disclaimers on science textbooks were unconstitutional.

In a unanimous decision the federal three-judge panel — including both Democratic and Republican appointees — stopped short of deciding the constitutionality of the stickers, and instead sent the case back to the trial court judge with instructions to hold more evidentiary hearings on the issue.

“This decision is a victory as it throws out the problematic ruling from the trial court,” said Casey Luskin, an attorney with the Discovery Institute. “Essentially, the appellate judges found that some of the findings of the lower court were not substantiated by the evidence in the record, so now new evidentiary hearings must be held, which could completely change the trial court’s original ruling against the school district.”

“This is a major step towards a bigger victory for students, school districts, and objective science education,” added Luskin.

For additional information about the legalities of teaching evolution you will want to read these books:

• Darwinism, Design and Public Education, edited by Dr. Stephen Meyer and Dr. John Angus Campbell
• "Law, Darwinism, and Public Education : The Establishment Clause and the Challenge of Intelligent Design," by Dr. Francis Beckwith

And be sure to visit Discovery Institute's Center for Science & Culture's Science Education Policy homepage.