Today
20
in History
26
01
Sun
02
Mon
03
Tue
04
Wed
05
Thu
06
Fri
07
Sat
08
Sun
09
Mon
10
Tue
11
Wed
12
Thu
13
Fri
14
Sat
15
Sun
16
Mon
17
Tue
18
Wed
19
Thu
20
Fri
21
Sat
22
Sun
23
Mon
24
Tue
25
Wed
26
Thu
27
Fri
28
Sat
29
Sun
30
Mon
...
11-12-1968
Teaching evolution in Arkansas
In 1968, the U.S. Supreme Court invalidated a 1928 Arkansas law criminalizing the teaching of evolution in public or state-supported schools of that state. The landmark ruling in Epperson v. Arkansas, was held 9-0. Arkansas’ law violated the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause, which proscribes legislation to favor the tenets of a particular religion. The Court found that the goal of the law was to restrict teachers from introducing the theory of evolution, as contrary to the belief of Christian Fundamentalists, that Genesis was the exclusive doctrine for humanity’s origin. The law was modeled on the Tennessee Butler Act (1925). The case was filed by a Little Rock teacher, Susan Epperson, and parent, H.H. Blanchard.«
More news today