Changes

'''Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District''' was a federal court case in which activist judge [[John E. Jones III]] ruled that [[Intelligent design]] was [[creationism]]. Jones wrote that Intelligent Design "cannot uncouple itself from its creationist, and thus religious, antecedents". The [[Discovery Institute]] found that in his decision Jones has copied verbatim from the [[ACLU]]'s proposed findings of fact. Casey Luskin, a scholar of [[intelligent design]] at the Discovery Institute has shown that the decision was grounded in [[judicial activism]], and Judge Jones has admitted to this.<ref>http://www.evolutionnews.org/2007/11/judge_jones_admits_the_activis.html</ref>

Tammy Kitzmiller, et al. v. Dover Area School District, et al., Case # 04cv2688, was a challenge brought in the United States federal court against a public school that required teachers to present intelligent design as an alternative to evolution as an explanation of the origins of life. The plaintiffs successfully argued that intelligent design is a form of creationism and the school's policy violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment and the Lemon Test. <ref> http://www2.ncseweb.org/kvd/all_legal/2005-12-20_Kitzmiller_decision.pdf </ref> <ref> http://www.nsba.org/site/view.asp?CID=438&DID=37548 </ref>

 

The plaintiffs, eleven parents of students at the Dover Area School District, sued the school board over a statement in support of intelligent design that was to be read aloud during science classes when evolution was taught.  The parents were represented by American Civil Liberties Union, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, and Pepper Hamilton LLP. The defendants retained the services of the Thomas More Law Center.

<ref> http://pewforum.org/news/display.php?NewsID=5945  </ref>

 

On December 20, 2005, Judge Jones ruled the Dover requirement to read the intelligent design statement was unconstitutional and could not be taught in Pennsylvania science classrooms.  He scolded the board members for lying under oath and injecting religion into science classes.  Eight members of the board were voted out of office and the resulting school board chose not to appeal the decision and pay fees and fines in excess of one million dollars. <ref> http://pewforum.org/news/display.php?NewsID=5945  </ref> <ref> http://www2.ncseweb.org/kvd/all_legal/2005-12-20_Kitzmiller_decision.pdf  </ref>

 

Immediately after the ruling in favor of the plaintiffs, Judge John E. Jones III, a conservative Republican appointed by President Bush, was accused of judicial activism. <ref> http://www.adl.org/Civil_Rights/speech_judge_jones.asp  </ref>  Despite the accusations that he admitted to making an activist ruling, <ref>http://www.evolutionnews.org/2007/11/judge_jones_admits_the_activis.html </ref> he actually preempted his critics by stating; "Those who disagree with our holding will likely mark it as the product of an activist judge. If so, they will have erred as this is manifestly not an activist Court.  Rather, this case came to us as the result of the activism of an ill-informed faction on a school board, aided by a national public interest law firm eager to find a constitutional test case on ID, who in combination drove the Board to adopt an imprudent and ultimately unconstitutional policy. The breathtaking inanity of the Board’s decision is evident when considered against the factual backdrop which has now been fully revealed through this trial. The students, parents, and teachers of the Dover Area School District deserved better than to be dragged into this legal maelstrom, with its resulting utter waste of monetary and personal resources."  <ref> http://www2.ncseweb.org/kvd/all_legal/2005-12-20_Kitzmiller_decision.pdf  </ref>

 

The term [[cdesign proponentsists]] was spawned into the American culture due to this case.

The term [[cdesign proponentsists]] was spawned into the American culture due to this case.