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Dover, Pennsylvania school district sued over "intelligent design" curriculum

Background. In 2004 the school board of Dover, a small town in central Pennsylvania, voted to incorporate "intelligent design" into its high school biology courses. The new policy required science teachers to read students a statement raising doubts about the universally accepted Darwinian theory of evolution and proposing "intelligent design" as an alternative. Eleven parents sued the school board in federal court. The case, which got considerable national coverage, concluded November 4, 2005. On November 8, candidates opposed to teaching "intelligent design" swept the school board out of office. On December 20, 2005, Judge John Jones ruled that the "intelligent design" policy was religiously motivated and must end.

New criticism for Dover intelligent design ruling

Christina Kauffman, The York Dispatch, December 12, 2006

U.S. Middle District Court Judge John E. Jones III's decision in the Dover intelligent design trial earned him accolades from the scientific community and a spot as one of Time magazine's 100 most influential people of 2005.

But nearly a year after the judge issued his decision in the landmark case, a group that supports intelligent design is accusing Jones of copying some of the text from one section of his ruling from the American Civil Liberties Union.

The Discovery Institute, a Seattle-based organization that bills itself as a nonpartisan think-tank and research center, issued a report today comparing the scientific section of Jones' Kitzmiller v. Dover decision with a proposed "Findings of Fact" document submitted by ACLU attorneys at the end of the trial. Continue.

The Discovery Institute's posting is here.

Critic of Darwinism Questions Judge's Use of ACLU 'Facts' in Anti-ID Ruling

By Jim Brown and Jenni Parker, AgapePress, December 15, 2006

A spokesman for a leading intelligent design think tank is questioning why the judge who banned any mention of the theory from a Pennsylvania school district is not responding to a report that suggests he plagiarized a significant portion of his ruling from the American Civil Liberties Union.

Earlier this week, the Seattle, Washington-based Discovery Institute released a report showing that Judge John Jones copied his ruling in the case of Tammy Kitzmiller, et al. v. Dover Area School District, et al. almost word for word from a document prepared by lawyers for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). Jones has refused to address the report in the press. Continue.

Judge in 'intelligent design' case reflects

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, May 22, 2006

CARLISLE, Pa. -- A federal judge who outlawed the teaching of "intelligent design" in science class told graduates at Dickinson College that the nation's founders saw religion as the result of personal inquiry, not church doctrine.

U.S. District Judge John E. Jones gave the commencement address yesterday to 500 graduates at Dickinson College, his alma mater. Continue

Dover trial witnesses treated 'like royalty'

A movie about the intelligent design issue nearly sold out at Tribeca Film Festival

By Michelle Starr, Daily Record (York, Pennsylvania), May 18, 2006

A local couple who opposed the since canceled policy of teaching "intelligent design" in the Dover school district in Pennsylvania attended a screening of "Flock of Dodos: The Evolution and Intelligent Design Circus," and participated in discussions. Continue

Prosecutor seeks perjury evidence

By John Beauge and Bill Sulon, Patriot-News (Harrisburg, Pennsylvania), December 22, 2005

The day after a federal judge struck down Dover's "intelligent design" curriculum, a federal prosecutor announced he was investigating whether some who testified at the trial committed perjury. In his decision, District Court Judge John Jones accused two pro-"intelligent design" school board members (since defeated at the polls) of lying. Click here to read the report.

Legal fears halt intelligent design move

United Press International, January 23, 2006

"A local school board member in Pennsylvania who is an intelligent design advocate says this is not the right time to introduce ID into classrooms. Randy Tomasacci, a member of the Northwest Area School Board in Shickshinny, Pa., says he's dropped the idea of introducing intelligent design. 'If we do it at all, in any classroom, anywhere, we'll have a lawsuit,' he told the Wilkes-Barre (Pa.) Times." Click here to read the report.

Americans United Hails Federal Court Ruling Against 'Intelligent Design' In Public Schools

Sweeping Decision Should Bring Latest Creationist Crusade To A Halt, Church-State Watchdog Group Says

Tuesday, December 20, 2005. Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, together with the ACLU, sued the Dover school district. "This is a tremendous victory for public schools and religious freedom," said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, Americans United executive director. "It means that school board members have no right to impose their personal religious beliefs on students through the school curriculum." Click here to read the full posting on the Americans United website.

Americans United posts Judge Jones' 139-page ruling against "intelligent design"

To read the decision (a PDF document), click here.

It's over in Dover

Community grapples with division on intelligent design decision

By Christina Kauffman, The York Dispatch (Dover, Pennsylvania), December 21, 2005

"Dover's yearlong debate over intelligent design was likely put to rest yesterday by a scathing, 139-page opinion released by U.S. Middle District Judge John E. Jones III." Click here to read the report of the decision in a Dover-area local paper.

Defending Science by Defining It

By David Brown and Richard Weiss, The Washington Post, December 21, 2005

The opinion written by Judge John E. Jones III in the Dover evolution trial is a two-in-one document that offers both philosophical and practical arguments against "intelligent design" likely to be useful to far more than a school board in a small Pennsylvania town.

"Jones gives a clear definition of science, and recounts how this vaunted mode of inquiry has evolved over the centuries. He describes how scientists go about the task of supporting or challenging ideas about the world of the senses -- all that can be observed and measured. And he reaches the unwavering conclusion that intelligent design is a religious idea, not a scientific one." Click here to read the report.

Judge Says 'Intelligent Design' Is Not Science

He calls a school board's effort to teach it as an alternative to evolution unconstitutional.

By Henry Weinstein, The Los Angeles Times, December 21, 2005

"Jones, a church-going conservative who was appointed to the federal bench by President Bush in 2002, said the statement was clearly designed to insert religious teachings into the classroom. He used much of his 139-page ruling to dissect arguments made for intelligent design.

"Legal experts described the ruling as a sharp defeat for the intelligent design movement - one likely to have considerable influence with other judges, although it is only legally binding in one area of Pennsylvania." Click here to read the report.

Dembski: Life after Dover

William Dembski says the Dover verdict is not ID's Waterloo, but merely one battle in a long culture war

By William A. Dembski, Science & Technology News, December 21, 2005

"Judge Jones's decision may make life in the short-term more difficult for ID proponents, and it certainly will not be pleasant to endure the inevitable gloating by the victors. But the work of ID will continue. In fact, it may continue more effectively than if the judge had ruled in favor of ID, which might have convinced people that ID had already won the day when in fact ID still has much to accomplish in developing its scientific and intellectual program." Click here to read Dembski's column on the Science & Technology News site.

For Philly lawyer, landmark win was a case of 'intelligent design'

Chanan Tigay, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, December 27, 2005

JTA profiles attorney Eric Rothschild, the co-lead counsel representing Dover, Pennsylvania area parents who sued to reverse a religiously motivated decision to teach "intelligent design" in school district science courses. Rothschild, who volunteered to work on this case, told JTA: "I do think that I'm probably particularly sensitive to intrusions on this constitutional right because of being part of a minority religion.... "I think the Jewish religion, Jewish practice, has thrived and felt a sense of security in this country because we really do have such a good structure for protecting religious freedom." Click here to read the report on the JTA site.

Banning of 'intelligent design' more significant than 'Christmas wars'

By Chanan Tigay, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, December 20, 2005

The reporter surveys a range of Jewish opinion on the decision in the Dover, Pennsylvania "intelligent design" case. The title is a bit misleading, as few of those interviewed opine on the comparison. To read the report on the JTA website, click here.

Federal court issues sweeping judgment against teaching of intelligent design

By Robert Marus, Associated Baptist Press, December 20, 2005

This straight news report by a moderate Baptist news service quotes the executive director of the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty lauding the decision. Click here to read the report on the APB website.

Religious right reacts to ruling against "intelligent design" with imprecations against judges

Advocates of 'Intelligent Design' Vow to Continue Despite Ruling

By Michael Powell, Washington Post, December 22, 2005

"'This decision is a poster child for a half-century secularist reign of terror that's coming to a rapid end with Justice Roberts and soon-to-be Justice Alito,' said Richard Land, who is president of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission and is a political ally of White House adviser Karl Rove. 'This was an extremely injudicious judge who went way, way beyond his boundaries -- if he had any eyes on advancing up the judicial ladder, he just sawed off the bottom rung.'" Click here to read the report.

False judge makes mockery of case for 'intelligent design'

By Phyllis Schlafly, TownHall.com, January 2, 2006

Phyllis Schlafly writes: "Jones' pursuit of the spotlight illustrates what is wrong with our judiciary today. He smeared 'fundamentalists,' impugned the integrity of those who disagree with him by accusing them of lying and issued an unnecessary permanent injunction." Click here to read Schlafly's commentary on the TownHall.com site.

The trial and the election

Rabbis Slam Televangelist For Condemning a Town

By Regina Avshalumova, Forward, November 18, 2005

Dover area rabbis rejected TV preacher and former presidential candidate Pat Robertson's statement that, in voting out the school board members who backed "intelligent design," the city rejected God. Click here to go to the report.

Dover Raps Robertson, Clings to Intelligent Design

Lame-duck school board keeps Creationist teaching as town laughs off televangelist

By Robert Zeliger, The Village Voice, November 14th, 2005

"In their final act before stepping down, members of the lame-duck board rejected a motion to revoke their Intelligent Design policy, a policy that has led to a lawsuit, a trial and a year of media scrutiny of this quiet, rural town." Click here to read the report

District in new hands

New Dover Area board members took their posts, but one seat remains open.

By Michelle Star, York Daily Record (York, Pennsylvania), December 6, 2005

"New Dover Area School Board members received a standing ovation from most of the crowd while a group of former board members sat at one side of the room." Click here to read the report.

Opponents of Intelligent Design prevail in Pa. school board vote

By James Patterson, Baptist Press, November 11, 2005

This very partisan report contains numerous details as well as providing insight into how proponents of "intelligent design" view the situation. Click here to read the report

'Intelligent-Design' School Board Ousted in Penn

Reuters, via Common Dreams, November 9, 2005

In Pennsylvania, opponents of an "intelligent design" curriculum for science classes ousted eight of the nine Dover Area School District board who imposed it. The upset election surprised the challengers, who'd hoped for a bare majority. Click to read the report.

Intelligent Design is not scientific theory

By Gene Lyons, The Napa Valley Register, November 26, 2005

"Flogged in the newspapers and on TV (as opposed to refereed scientific journals) by an outfit calling itself the Discovery Institute, "Intelligent Design," ID for short, supposedly represented a new frontier in scientific thinking.

"Instead, judging by excellent coverage given the trial in the York Daily Record and elsewhere, ID got exposed as Biblical Fundamentalism in a badly fitting lab coat." Click here to read the article.

'Intelligent design' friends and foes make final pitch

Judge wants to have decision in evolution case by year's end.

By Christina Gostomski, The Morning Call Online (Allentown, PA), November 5, 2005

The Harrisburg trial over evolution that has gripped national headlines for weeks ended Friday with attorneys arguing whether a school board intended to promote religion by including a statement about ''intelligent design'' in its high school biology curriculum. Click here to read the report

'Intelligent design' trial concludes

By Martha Raffaele, NEPA News, November 4, 2005

Click here to read another local wrap-up report on the Dover "intelligent design" trial.

School Board Members Say Intelligent Design Introduced as Alternative to Evolution

The Christian Post, Nov. 3, 2005

The president of the board of the Dover Area School District testified at trial that "she had made her decision to approve the intelligent design by doing Internet research and by a brief reading of an intelligent design textbook." Please click here to read the report.

No Easy Victory Ensues in Legal Battle Over Evolution

Intelligent Design Theorists Far From 1920s Fundamentalists

By Michael Powell, Washington Post, Friday, October 21, 2005; Page A03

This report on the parents' lawsuit against the teaching of "intelligent design" (aka creationism) in the Dover, Pennsylvania, public schools, focuses on the testimony of an advocate for "intelligent design." Click here to read the report.

'Creationism' Conflict

Buckingham testifies he never meant to use the word

by Christina Kauffman, The York Dispatch, October 28, 2005

This report, providing detailed coverage of the current "Scopes monkey trial" in the local paper for the Dover, Pennsylvania area, shows just how close creationism and "intelligent design" were in the mind of the Dover Area School Board member who was the driving force for imposing religious doctrine in biology class. The report also shows how the local activists hooked up with national fundamentalist organizations. Click here to read the report.