Law, Darwinism, and Public Education

The Establishment Clause and the Challenge of Intelligent Design

In 1987, in Edwards v. Aguillard, the United States Supreme Court declared as unconstitutional a Louisiana statute requiring the state's public schools to teach creationism if evolution is taught and to teach evolution if creationism is taught. It was a serious blow to creationism in public schools, but a new movement since then has kept the debate alive. That new movement is 'Intelligent Design.' Should Intelligent Design be taught in schools? In Law, Darwinism, & Public Education, Francis J. Beckwith asks whether teaching 'ID' in public schools would be constitutional, in light of the Supreme Court's decision in Edwards v. Aguillard. At that time, the Court ruled that teaching creationism violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Beckwith examines the Intelligent Design theory and the Edwards case to find out whether teaching ID would suffer the same fate if brought before the court.