The Monkey Trial, Redux?

Posted on January 13, 2005

It looks like Evolution is back. A federal judge has ordered the immediate removal of stickers placed in high school biology textbooks that call evolution "a theory, not a fact," saying they were an unconstitutional endorsement of religion. The stickers had been placed in the books by Cobb County, Georgia school officials in 2002, leading to numerous complaints by parents, scientists and others.

U.S. District Judge Clarence Cooper said in a 44-page ruling: "Adopted by the school board, funded by the money of taxpayers, and inserted by school personnel, the sticker conveys an impermissible message of endorsement and tells some citizens that they are political outsiders while telling others they are political insiders....By denigrating evolution, the school board appears to be endorsing the well-known prevailing alternative theory, creationism or variations thereof, even though the sticker does not specifically reference any alternative theories."

The New York Times reports that the school board is reviewing the decision and considering whether or not to appeal.