Edwards v. Aguillard
| Edwards v. Aguillard | |
|---|---|
|
|
| Argued December 10, 1986 Decided June 19, 1987 |
|
| Full case name | Edwin W. Edwards, Governor of Louisiana, et al., Appellants v. Don Aguillard et al. |
| Citations | 482 U.S. 578 (more)
107 S. Ct. 2573; 96 L. Ed. 2d 510; 1987 U.S. LEXIS 2729; 55 U.S.L.W. 4860
|
| Argument | Oral argument |
| Holding | |
| Teaching creationism in public schools is unconstitutional because it attempts to advance a particular religion. | |
| Court membership | |
| Case opinions | |
| Majority | Brennan, joined by Marshall, Blackmun, Powell, Stevens; O'Connor (all but part II) |
| Concurrence | Powell, joined by O'Connor |
| Concurrence | White (in the judgment only) |
| Dissent | Scalia, joined by Rehnquist |
| Laws applied | |
| U.S. Const. amend. I | |
Edwards v. Aguillard, 482 U.S. 578 (1987), was a United States Supreme Court case concerning the constitutionality of teaching creationism. The Court ruled that a Louisiana law requiring that creation science be taught in public schools, along with evolution, violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment because the law was specifically intended to advance a particular religion. It also held that "teaching a variety of scientific theories about the origins of humankind to school children might be validly done with the clear secular intent of enhancing the effectiveness of science instruction".
In support of Aguillard, 72 Nobel prize-winning scientists, 17 state academies of science, and seven other scientific organizations filed amicus briefs that described creation science as being composed of religious tenets.
Modern American creationism arose out of the theological split over modernist higher criticism and its rejection by the Fundamentalist Christian movement, which promoted Biblical literalism and, post 1920, took up the anti-evolution cause led by William Jennings Bryan. The teaching of evolution had become a common part of the public school curriculum, but his campaign was based on the idea that "Darwinism" had caused German militarism and was a threat to traditional religion and morality. Several states passed legislation to ban or restrict the teaching of evolution. The Tennessee Butler Act was tested in the Scopes Trial of 1925, and continued in effect with the result that evolution was not taught in many schools.
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