Official Report: Investigation of Louisiana College President Joe Aguillard
Edwards v. Aguillard Trial
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Transcript of Edwards v. Aguillard Trial
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