Edwards v. Aguillard Trial
Background
Creationism 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.
Background
In 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.
Background
One 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.
Background
Don 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.
Trial
Don 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.
Trial
The 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 Test
The 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 Test
The 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 Test
If any of these parts of the test are
violated, the ruling is that it is
unconstitutional. and in violation of the
establishment clause.
Decision
In 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 Opinion
The 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.
Aftermath
The 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.
Quiz
1. What was the other name for the
Balanced Treatment for Creation-Science
and Evolution-Science in Public School
Instruction Act?
a. The Evolution Act
b. The Butler Act
c. The Intelligent Design Act
d. The Creation Act -
Quiz
2. Where was this act passed?
a. Arkansas
b. Tennessee
c. Louisianad. Kentucky
Quiz
3. Who was Aguillard?
a. A state representative
b. A scientist
c. A parent of a student
d. A teacher-
Quiz
4. What did the plantiff state that the act
was in violation of?
a. The Establishment Clause
b. Threatened academic freedom
c. The First Amendment
d. All of the Abovee. None of the Above
Quiz
5. What was the name of the test that the
Supreme Court used to judge this case?
a. The Lee mon test
b. The Lemon testc. The Religious test
d. The Evolution test
Quiz
6. True or False. The act passed the Lemon
test.
A. True
B. False-
Quiz
7. True or False. The act was considered
unconstitutional.
A. TrueB. False
Quiz
8. The Supreme Court ruling affected all of
the following except:
A. Public Schools
B. Public School Teachers
C. Independent SchoolsD. Public School Students
Quiz
9. Which Justices had a dissenting opinion?
A.Chief Justice William Rehnquist
B.Thurgood Marshall
C.Sandra Day O’Connor
D.Antonin Scalia
E.A&B
F.A&C
G.A&D-
Quiz
10. What was creation science’s name
changed to in the 1990s?
A.Evolution
B.Intelligent DesignC.Creationsim
D.Creator Science
Resources
http://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