US District Judge Clarence Cooper ruled in favor of science and SOCAS yesterday, ordering the Cobb County, Georgia, school system to remove the inane yellow warning stickers from their high school biology textbooks.
:does the happy dance
The stickers stated, "This textbook contains material on evolution. Evolution is a theory, not a fact, regarding the evolution of living things. This material should be approached with an open mind, studied carefully, and critically considered."
Cobb County placed them on the biology texts after some 2000 parents (slightly less than one-half of one percent of the adult population in that county, as per 2003 census estimates) complained that their kids were learning science in school to the exclusion of certain religious beliefs.
In the course of his 44 page decision, Judge Cooper said:
"The sticker conveys an impermissible message of endorsement
[snip]
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
[snip]
While evolution is subject to criticism, particularly with respect to the mechanism by which it occurred, the sticker misleads students regarding the significance and value of evolution in the scientific community."
Cooper also acknowledged that Cobb County had been very careful in its choice of words, attempting to appear neutral on the matter of religion. He allowed that while parents / adults (particularly those who have actually been taught the difference between pedestrian "theory" and scientific "theory" – see Scopes II: Monkeys Reloaded for further discussion) might be able to differentiate between the actual meaning and the more common usage, schoolchildren were more likely to "view the message on the sticker as a union of church and state," in violation of the First Amendment.
Moreover, the Judge noted that the stickers themselves, carefully worded though they may be, "convey a message of endorsement of religion," which is contrary to the Georgia state Constitution, which prohibits the use of public funds to aid religion.
Judge Cooper concluded therefore that the stickers were unconstitutional, both at the state and federal levels, and that their presence led to impermissible effects.
Brian Fahling, senior attorney for the American Family Association, responded with "To sniff out impermissible effects, to me, is absolutely histrionic." The AFA is a Christian-right group which, in addition to scientific pollution, also campaigns against gay rights. I doubt Fahling took note of the irony of his statement, as it was precisely "impermissible effects" – as viewed from a Christian fundamentalist perspective – which led parents to complain and the school board to issue the stickers in the first place.
The difference, of course, is the Judge Cooper actually has the law behind him, rather than blocking his way into a new national Canaan.
A spokeswoman for the school system had no comment on the case, nor on plans for appeal.
Prior to the introduction of the stickers in 2002, Cobb County teachers were regularly required to tear pages covering evolution out of science textbooks, lest high school students become infected with the requirement to think. The stickers were the school board’s effort, apparently, to end destruction / vandalism of public property while appeasing parents who want religion taught in public schools.
Kenneth Miller, co-author of the biology text in question and a Brown University professor, commented "I think the judge saw very clearly that the intent of the wording of the warning sticker was to tell students that the information about evolution is inherently unreliable." Absolutely.
Wonder what they’ll try next? Cobb County’s been at this for years. I don’t imagine they’re going to give up just because a judge and the law of the land require them to do so.
