Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District Receives International Media Attention

Journalists across the US, and even the globe, have given an enormous amount of attention to the Dover, PA lawsuit Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District. The lawsuit, which pits 11 parents against the Dover school board which introduced the theory of "Intelligent Design" into its curriculum last year, is being portrayed as the sequel to the famous Scopes "Monkey" Trial of 1925. Indeed a Chicago Tribune headline proclaimed "Intelligent Design Duels Darwin In 'Scopes II.'"

In fact, the Dover case probably bears more resemblance to the 1981 trial of McLean v. Arkansas in which the Federal Government first struck down the practice of teaching Creationism not solely, but alongside scientific evolution (as noted by The New Republic here). Like in McLean the debate in Kitzmiller rests on weather or not it is fair to call Intelligent Design a scientific theory. If it is decided that ID does not meet the rigor and objectivity required by that criteria, and that the school board has acted under "clearly religious motivations" then ID will be found to be "theology in disguise" and ruled unconstitutional as a violation of the separation between church and state.

The plaintiffs attorneys, including representation hailing from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Americans United for Separation of Church and State, and the law firm Pepper Hamilton, have assembled an impressive collection of experts from academia to make the case that ID does not make the cut as a scientific theory. They have also pointed to other actions of the Dover School Board to try to show religious intent (such as previously attempting to introduce the teaching of traditional Creation Science, struck down by McLean).

The Defendants, represented by Richard Thompson from the Thomas More Law Center of Ann Arbor, Michigan, have based their strategy on the argument that the school board was acting with a legitimate secular purpose: introducing pupils to alternative points of view, of which evolution is only one.

The Kitzmiller case has been called the most important evolution case is more than two decades, and will be decided by Judge John E. Jones III. You can read more about the Kitzmiller case online at any of these sites:

"Trial and Error" at The New Republic

"Evolution Trial Delves into Topics of Faith" at NEPA News

"Life is Like a Cup of Tea" at the London based Economist

"Debate Over Statement Perplexes Students" at the York Daily Record