Judge John E. Jones III To Participate in Panel At Muhlenberg College
John E. Jones III, of the Middle District of Pennsylvania, will present, “A View from the Bench after Kitzmiller v. Dover,” on March 22 at 7 p.m. in Miller Forum, Moyer Hall.Wednesday, March 15, 2006 01:59 PM
Jones will begin by giving brief remarks to introduce the topic, and an in-depth panel discussion will follow. This event is free and open to the public.
Jones, who recently achieved fame from the Dover ruling that assessed the merits of Intelligent Design, will address some of the interesting asides which arose during the case, the broader issue of judicial independence, and the role of precedent, and how trial judges go about deciding cases like Kitzmiller v. Dover. Panel members will interview the Judge Jones questions pre-submitted by students and members of the community. Questions may be submitted via the internet at:
http://www.muhlenberg.edu/depts/soc-anth/dover/index.html.
In December 2005, Jones ruled in favor of 11 parents in Dover, Pa., who argued that Darwinian evolution must be taught as fact in public school biology classrooms. The Dover Area school Board had argued that lifeforms were too complex to have evolved exclusively through random mutation and natural selection, and proposed the teaching of intelligent design (ID) - the belief that a grand designer is responsible for life - alongside of evolution in public school classrooms.
In his ruling, Jones rejected claims by members of Dover's former school board that the theory of intelligent design was based on scientific rather than religious belief. As such, Judge Jones determined that it was not science and "cannot uncouple itself from its creationist, and thus religious, antecedents". In his written ruling, the judge concluded that: "it is unconstitutional to teach ID as an alternative to evolution in a public school science classroom."
For those fighting the policy of the Dover school board, the judicial ruling offered strong support for the separation of church and state. For supporters of the teaching of ID and creationism in U.S. public schools, the ruling was a monumental defeat.
This event offers a rare opportunity to learn about the process of independent jurisprudence in America, even when it is practiced at the center of one of the most divisive legal battles of the culture wars.
