The legal battle over the teaching of evolution and creationism in public-school science classes goes back at least to 1925, when Clarence Darrow defended (and lost) the case involving Tennessee’s criminal prosecution of teacher John Scoopes. The issue has twice reached the U.S. Supreme Court—most recently in 1987—and, prior to 2005, had two full and thorough trials on the merits. In 2005, in Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District, the issue of evolution and teaching intelligent design as science in public schools was addressed. Our speaker, Witold Walczak, the ACLU of Pennsylvania’s Legal Director was one of three lawyers to try Kitzmiller. He will discuss the facts leading up to the controversy, case preparation and the trial itself. He will share the unique aspect involved in litigating such a high profile case and how this case was tried on two levels; one being the facts attending the controversy in the Dover School District, and the other being the details of the intelligent design movement and theory.
