Wednesday, December 20, 2006
Kate Heneroty at 10:50 AM ET

[JURIST] The Cobb County School District [official website] on Tuesday agreed to remove anti-evolution stickers [ACLU press release] from its high school biology textbooks. In 2002, parents sued the suburban Atlanta school district claiming the stickers violated the separation between church and state by promoting religion in the classroom. In January 2005, a federal district court ordered the removal of the stickers [text; JURIST report]. The school board appealed the decision and in May the US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit remanded the case [JURIST reports] to the district court on the issue of whether the school district's actions were "religiously neutral."

The settlement ends the legal battle which began when the district placed a sticker in 35,000 biology textbooks calling evolution "a theory, not a fact." To settle the case, the school district also agreed not to take any action which would undermine the teaching of evolution in high school classrooms.

The Atlanta Journal Constitution has more.

Wednesday, December 20, 2006
Kate Heneroty at 10:50 AM ET

[JURIST] The Cobb County School District [official website] on Tuesday agreed to remove anti-evolution stickers [ACLU press release] from its high school biology textbooks. In 2002, parents sued the suburban Atlanta school district claiming the stickers violated the separation between church and state by promoting religion in the classroom. In January 2005, a federal district court ordered the removal of the stickers [text; JURIST report]. The school board appealed the decision and in May the US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit remanded the case [JURIST reports] to the district court on the issue of whether the school district's actions were "religiously neutral."

The settlement ends the legal battle which began when the district placed a sticker in 35,000 biology textbooks calling evolution "a theory, not a fact." To settle the case, the school district also agreed not to take any action which would undermine the teaching of evolution in high school classrooms.

The Atlanta Journal Constitution has more.

Friday, May 26, 2006
Federal court of appeals remands Georgia evolution disclaimer case
Jaime Jansen at 8:25 AM ET

[JURIST] The US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit [official website] on Thursday remanded [opinion text, PDF] an appeal from the Atlanta-based Cobb County School District [official website] asking the court to overturn [JURIST report] a district court decision [text; JURIST report] requiring the school district to remove stickers in their biology textbooks calling evolution "a theory, not a fact." The three-judge panel asked the district court to determine if the public school district's actions were "religiously neutral," implying that the stickers may stay if they do not represent a government endorsement of religion. In order to do so, the district court must consider whether the government pressured the school district into adopting the sticker policy.

American Establishment jurisprudence is strange.

Cobb County originally instituted the sticker policy in response to complaints from some parents claiming that the textbook represented evolution as fact without including any rival theories about the creation of life.

Apart from the various religious dogma, what scientific theories exist that 'rival' evolution?

It seems that US courts have a different approach to the questions "What Is Science" and "How Does Science Work" than they do to unravel major corporate fraud cases and similar complex litigation.

Why do people have so much difficulty separating their beliefs from their assumptions from they actually know?

Other parents of some of the students in the district later sued, claiming the policy violated the separation of church and state under the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment [text]. Students and staff last year removed stickers [JURIST report] from 35,000 biology textbooks pending appeal of the case.

They have 35,000 biology textbooks. Does anyone open them?

AP has more.

Friday, May 26, 2006
Federal court of appeals remands Georgia evolution disclaimer case
Jaime Jansen at 8:25 AM ET

[JURIST] The US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit [official website] on Thursday remanded [opinion text, PDF] an appeal from the Atlanta-based Cobb County School District [official website] asking the court to overturn [JURIST report] a district court decision [text; JURIST report] requiring the school district to remove stickers in their biology textbooks calling evolution "a theory, not a fact." The three-judge panel asked the district court to determine if the public school district's actions were "religiously neutral," implying that the stickers may stay if they do not represent a government endorsement of religion. In order to do so, the district court must consider whether the government pressured the school district into adopting the sticker policy.

American Establishment jurisprudence is strange.

Cobb County originally instituted the sticker policy in response to complaints from some parents claiming that the textbook represented evolution as fact without including any rival theories about the creation of life.

Apart from the various religious dogma, what scientific theories exist that 'rival' evolution?

It seems that US courts have a different approach to the questions "What Is Science" and "How Does Science Work" than they do to unravel major corporate fraud cases and similar complex litigation.

Why do people have so much difficulty separating their beliefs from their assumptions from they actually know?

Other parents of some of the students in the district later sued, claiming the policy violated the separation of church and state under the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment [text]. Students and staff last year removed stickers [JURIST report] from 35,000 biology textbooks pending appeal of the case.

They have 35,000 biology textbooks. Does anyone open them?

AP has more.