John E. Jones III is a federal judge notable for ruling that Intelligent design is another name for creationism in the Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District case.[1]
Judge Jones is a Republican judge from Pennsylvania, and was appointed by President George W. Bush.[2] One such case, the Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District, was brought by the parents of 11 students from the Dover school district to remove Intelligent Design from district classrooms. Jones ruled that it should be removed, and this has sparked a controversy. Ann Coulter called Judge Jones a "hack."[2]
Legal scholars Jay D. Wexler and Arnold H. Loewy questioned Judge Jones's ruling. [3]
In his ruling, Judge Jones cut and pasted (read: plagiarized) material from ACLU briefs.[4][5][6] The Discovery Institute states that Judge Jones followed the ACLU and ignored contrary facts. [7] Information published by the Discovery Institute is contested.[8]
After the trial, Judge Jones ordered the school district to pay over $2 million in legal fees to the ACLU's side.
Jones later made statements making clear that he knew that he had engaged in judicial activism in the case.[9]
Dickinson College Commencement Address
In December 2006, a Discovery Institute blogger suggested that Judge Jones plagiarized a scholar's book in his Dickinson College commencement speech and gave a comparison of the speech and the scholar's work.[10] The source is currently acknowledged in the online published text of the speech.[11]
References
- ↑ Grier , Peter and Josh Burek Banned in Biology Class: Intelligent Design Christian Science Monitor
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Cohn, Robert A. Judge explains 'intelligent design' ruling St. Louis Jewish Light January 1, 2008
- ↑ http://www.evolutionnews.org/2007/03/kitzmiller_attorney_uses_harsh.html
- ↑ Moore, Art Judge copied ACLU in anti-intelligent design ruling World Net Daily
- ↑ West, John G. and David K. DeWolf [http://www.discovery.org/scripts/viewDB/filesDB-download.php?command=download&id=1186 A Comparison of Judge Jones’ Opinion in Kitzmiller v. Dover with Plaintiffs’ Proposed "Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law"] Discovery Institute. December 12, 2006
- ↑ http://www.evolutionnews.org/2007/01/a_response_to_darwinist_defend.html
- ↑ http://www.evolutionnews.org/2005/12/judge_jones_follows_aclu_ignor.html
- ↑ For a rebuttal argument, see here
- ↑ http://www.evolutionnews.org/2007/11/judge_jones_admits_the_activis.html
- ↑ Did Judge Jones Plagiarize Scholar's Book in Dickinson College Commencement Speech? (Robert Crowther, 2006)
- ↑ Judge John E. Jones, Commencement Address (Dickinson College, May 19-21, 2006). Accessed April 21, 2007.