The First Amendment

• freedom of speech
• freedom of religion
• freedom of assembly
• freedom of the press
• and right to petition.
• does not allow the government to establish a national religion.

 “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
« Le Congrès ne fera aucune loi qui touche l'établissement ou interdise le libre exercice d'une religion, ni qui restreigne la liberté de la parole ou de la presse, ou le droit qu'a le peuple de s'assembler paisiblement et d'adresser des pétitions au gouvernement pour la réparation des torts dont il a --> se plaindre. »
The Evolution Debate in the US

  1859
Darwin publishes On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection,
 1871
Darwin publishes The Descent of Man, which argues that humans are descended from apes.
 1870s
American evangelists, begin attacking evolution
By the 1920s, ++ theologically conservative Christian ministers are publicly opposed to teaching evolution in public schools.
 1925

In State of Tennessee v. Scopes, public school teacher John Scopes is convicted of teaching evolution in violation of Tennessee's ban on the practice;
--> criminal case
--> Butler Act

--> state case
American Civil Liberties Union
supreme court of Tennessee
Scopes: general science and coach

 

--> Supreme court ; Scopes' conviction is later overturned on the basis of a legal technicality (it did not require the teaching of any other doctrine)
 1968
In Epperson v. Arkansas, the U.S. Supreme Court rules that an Arkansas law making it a crime to teach evolution in public schools and state universities violates the Establishment Clause in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. --> VERY IMPORTANT STEP
  1971
In Lemon v. Kurtzman, a case unrelated to the teaching of evolution, the Supreme Court establishes a set of legal criteria for determining whether a law violates the Establishment Clause. Under the "Lemon test," a law must have a secular purpose, not advance or inhibit religion and not excessively entangle the government with religion. The Lemon test will be applied to subsequent cases on the teaching of evolution.
  1982
In McLean v. Arkansas Board of Education, a federal court strikes down an Arkansas law requiring public schools to teach creation science alongside evolution.
 1987
In Edwards v. Aguillard, the Supreme Court rejects as unconstitutional a Louisiana law prohibiting the teaching of evolution in public schools if creation science is not taught alongside it. The court rules that the law had a religious purpose.--> another VERY important step
  1999
The Kansas Board of Education rules that biology teachers can offer instruction in evolutionary theory but that the subject will not be included on statewide standardized science tests. The ruling sparks a number of subsequent battles over the state's science standards.
In Freiler v. Tangipahoa Parish (La.) Board of Education, a federal appeals court strikes down a Louisiana law requiring public school teachers to read a disclaimer urging students to question evolutionary theory.
 2005
In Selman v. Cobb County School District, a federal court rejects as unconstitutional the Cobb County, Ga., school board's requirement that a sticker be affixed to public school biology textbooks instructing students to think critically about evolutionary theory.

In Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District, a federal district court strikes down the Dover, Pa., school board's requirement that the term "intelligent design" be mentioned in the public high school biology curriculum.
--> civil case
-->federal case
--> Intelligent Design  -->  universe  not simple enough to be made by nature. -->a smart being must have made everything --> Many people --> a form of Creationism.
creationism in disguise.
looked at the older copies of the book --> "created" to "designed" and "creationists" to "intelligent design proponents" -->changes just after Edwards v. Aguillard said you could not teach creationism in schools.