Edwards v. Aguillard Trial

BackgroundCreationism and evolution had been

fought by various politicians for years. In 1929, the Butler Act was introduced and it basically outlawed teaching evolution

in public schools.

BackgroundIn the 1960s, evolution was again put

into public school agendas though many people were not happy with it and tried to get it outlawed again. In the 1980s, some states decided that they want

creationism taught while evolution was taught. They wanted creationism to be

taught and seen as another theory.

BackgroundOne of the states that passed such a law was Louisiana. The new legislature was created by Sate Senator Bill P. Keith of

Caddo Parish. The bill was entitled Balanced Treatment for Creation-Science

and Evolution-Science in Public School Instruction Act. It was otherwise known as the Creationism act. The act made it law that when evolution was being taught so

must creation science be taught along with it.

BackgroundDon Aguillard was a high school

advanced biology teacher in Louisiana. He took notice of the new creation

science law. He believed it threatened academic freedom, because it imposed

religious implications in science. He believed that allowing this was

unconstitutional in violation of the establishment clause.

TrialDon Aguillard challenged the law by

suing Edwin W. Edwards, who was the governor of Louisiana at the time. The cause when to the Supreme court in

December 10, 1986.

TrialThe Supreme court heard Aguillard’s

argument of the act being in violation of the first amendment and threatening of academic freedom. The judges put these

accusations to the test by using the lemon test.

Lemon TestThe lemon test was created after the case of Lemon v. Kurtzman in 1971,

which was a case about reinbursement of nonpublic school teacher salaries. The

lemon test was a test made based on this case for future cases that had to do

with the violation of the first ammendment having to do with

Religion.

Lemon TestThe three part Lemon test is as follows:1. The government's action must have a

secular legislative purpose;The government's action must not have

the primary effect of either advancing or inhibiting religion;

The government's action must not result in an "excessive government entanglement"

with religion.

Lemon TestIf any of these parts of the test are

violated, the ruling is that it is unconstitutional. and in violation of the

establishment clause.

DecisionIn Edwards v. Aguillard, the Supreme

court used the Lemon test. In June 19, 1987, the act failed the Lemon test,

because it did not pass all three parts of the test. The court ruled that teachers

were limited by only able to teach evolution if they also taught creation

science. They could not determine, which scientific principles to be taught.

Dissenting OpinionThe ruling was that the act was made to

impose religious purpose in public schools. Justice Antoin Scalia and Chief

Justice William Rehnquist dissented. They argued that the act’s purpose of

protecting academic freedom was a secular purpose and valid.

AftermathThe ruling only affected public schools to refrain

from teaching creation science. Nonpublic schools could continue to teach such sciences. A few years

later, “intelligent design” theory was created where creation science was just changed to intelligent

design or designer for the text book of Of Pandas and People. Intelligent design in the 1990s became

a new movement of thought and theory in the minds of religious and nonreligious alike. Of

Pandas and People textbook also became public in the trial of Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District.

Quiz1. What was the other name for the

Balanced Treatment for Creation-Science and Evolution-Science in Public School Instruction Act?

a. The Evolution Actb. The Butler Actc. The Intelligent Design Actd. The Creation Act -

Quiz2. Where was this act passed?a.Arkansasb.Tennesseec.Louisiana-d.Kentucky

Quiz3. Who was Aguillard?a.A state representativeb.A scientistc.A parent of a studentd.A teacher-

Quiz4. What did the plantiff state that the act was in violation of?a.The Establishment Clauseb.Threatened academic freedomc.The First Amendmentd.All of the Above-e.None of the Above

Quiz5. What was the name of the test that the Supreme Court used to judge this case?a.The Lee mon testb.The Lemon test-c.The Religious testd.The Evolution test

Quiz6. True or False. The act passed the Lemon test.A.TrueB.False-

Quiz7. True or False. The act was considered unconstitutional. A.True-B.False

Quiz8. The Supreme Court ruling affected all of the following except:A.Public SchoolsB.Public School TeachersC.Independent Schools-D.Public School Students

Quiz9. Which Justices had a dissenting opinion?A.Chief Justice William RehnquistB.Thurgood MarshallC.Sandra Day O’ConnorD.Antonin ScaliaE.A&BF.A&CG.A&D-

Quiz10. What was creation science’s name changed to in the 1990s?A.EvolutionB.Intelligent Design-C.CreationsimD.Creator Science

Resourceshttp://www.oyez.org/cases/1980-1989/1986/1986_85_1513

http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/historics/USSC_CR_0482_0578_ZS.html

http://ncse.com/creationism/legal/edwards-v-aguillard

http://www.firstamendmentschools.org/freedoms/case.aspx?id=464

http://atheism.about.com/library/decisions/evo/bldec_EdwardsAguillard.htm

http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/conlaw/edwards.html

http://aclu.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=495

http://www.jstor.org/pss/4450650

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/

Who_are_Edwards_and_Aguillard_in_the_US_Supreme_Court_case_Edwards_v._Aguillard

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edwards_v._Aguillard

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lemon_v._Kurtzman