Today's issue of The Wall Street Journal discusses the significance of next week's intelligent design trial in Pennsylvania:
Quote:Kitzmiller et al. v. Dover Area School District is expected to draw national media attention as well as expert witnesses from Brown University and other prominent institutions. The trial, slated to last five weeks, will be monitored by scientists, educators and politicians around the country. The trial will not be televised.
The outcome is likely to influence state school boards in Kansas and Ohio, which have moved toward allowing teachers to critique Darwin's theory, as well as policies in many individual school districts. "The results of the Dover trial will be extremely significant for American public school education," said Eugenie Scott, executive director of the nonprofit National Center for Science Education, based in California, an organization that advocates teaching evolution and advised the plaintiff's team on science matters.
"If the judge rules in favor of the plaintiffs, then this will truly throw sand in the gears of efforts to get intelligent design taught at the high school level," said Ms. Scott. "If the judge rules...for the district, I think this will give a green light to school districts that would like to introduce some form of creationism in the classroom."
Just as I suspected; it's still not decided, and it still can go either way.
c.i.,
Federal judges tend to be more strict in applying the "establishment clause" when schoolchildren are involved. I predict that the judge in this case will bar the teaching of intelligent design.
Not if the judge has an agenda to support ID.
c.i. wrote-
Quote:Just as I suspected; it's still not decided, and it still can go either way.
Do you mean the decision or the truth?
The crack in the unified front of ID has widened since the Discovery Institute has recused itself from the proceedings. Im sure that they are concerned about what theyve said on the record in the time leading up to the trial.
CI, no matter what the judge feels, he must adjudicate with the weight of the evidence.
However, no matter which way it gets read, the decision will be appealed. When the appeals get filed and run through, the case gets less interesting and more in the realm of "lawyers". We can only stand by and watch open mouthed.
The biggest names at the trial now are probably Behe and Miller.
spendius, There's only one truth. I'm talking about the decision. With this country's record on gay marriage, Roe vs Wade, the Terri Schiavo fiasco, and the SC's intrusion into the 2004 Florida elections, I'm not so sure about how this trial will end up. Call me a skeptic.
c.i.
You a skeptic?
You must be kidding.
A decision against the Dover Area School District, even if appealed, would discourage other school boards from mandating the teaching of intelligent design. If a school board loses such a lawsuit, they are required to pay legal costs. School board members who lead their district into something like that are less likely to get re-elected.
wand, What you say is "common sense," but it seems to this observer that fundamental religious folks lose that ability somewhere along the way.
I hope you are right; 1) school boards must pay the legal costs, and 2) they are less likely to get re-elected.
Does that mean that people on the other side of the argument have no common sense?
wand, Thanks for the update on the trial. I wonder why they're refusing to televise this special trial? I wish they had approved the tv broadcast - internationally.
c.i.,
The general rule for all U.S. federal courts is that no television cameras are allowed inside the courtroom itself.
In this case, there will be an audio feed from the courtroom.
That's the next best thing; I'll look forward to listening.
nyah nyah neeener neeener
wandeljw saidQuote: A decision against the Dover Area School District, even if appealed, would discourage other school boards from mandating the teaching of intelligent design.
Thats why the appel is already factored into the case strategy, If left to the public, the IDers would win by a narrow margin.
Ive always been told tht
"A loss in court is the first step to a successful appeal"
