As I indicated in the previous post on this Blog, Judge John Jones, a federal judge (a Republican, and appointed by George W. Bush, in his first term, not only rejected the teaching of intelligent design in science classes, but rebuked the Dover, PA school board, and the perpetuators of Intelligent Design, especially the law firm representing the defendants in the case, and the authors of intelligent design texts and materials.

Major newspapers covered the story today. The New York Times reported, Issuing Rebuke, Judge Rejects Teaching of Intelligent Design. The Atlanta Journal ran the story as the lead article “INTELLIGENT DESGIN FLUNKS.” And USA Today ran the article as the lead piece entitled “Intelligent Design is Religious, Judge Says.”

What did the court really conclude? The Judge’s ruling is contained in a 139 page report, and I decided to look at the conclusions. Below you will find the conclusions/summary of the ruling. I’ve broken it up into six parts, and have labeled each part, followed by an excerpt from the report.

Conclusion:

1. ID violates the Establishment Clause
“The proper application of both the endorsement and Lemon tests to the facts of this case makes it abundantly clear that the Board’s ID Policy violates the Establishment Clause. In making this determination, we have addressed the seminal question of whether ID is science. We have concluded that it is not, and moreover that ID cannot uncouple itself from its creationist, and thus religious, antecedents. Both Defendants and many of the leading proponents of ID make a bedrock assumption which is utterly false. Their presupposition is that evolutionary theory is antithetical to a belief in the existence of a supreme being and to religion in general. Repeatedly in this trial, Plaintiffs’ scientific experts testified that the theory of evolution represents good science, is overwhelmingly accepted by the scientific community, and that it in no way conflicts with, nor does it deny, the existence of a divine creator.”

2. Evolution theory is imperfect, but…
“To be sure, Darwin’s theory of evolution is imperfect. However, the fact that a scientific theory cannot yet render an explanation on every point should not be used as a pretext to thrust an untestable alternative hypothesis grounded in religion into the science classroom or to misrepresent well-established scientific propositions.”

3. Citizens poorly served by Board of Education
“The citizens of the Dover area were poorly served by the members of the Board who voted for the ID Policy. It is ironic that several of these individuals, who so staunchly and proudly touted their religious convictions in public, would time and again lie to cover their tracks and disguise the real purpose behind the ID Policy. With that said, we do not question that many of the leading advocates of ID have bona fide and deeply held beliefs which drive their scholarly endeavors. Nor do we controvert that ID should continue to be studied, debated, and discussed. As stated, our conclusion today is that it is unconstitutional to teach ID as an alternative to evolution in a public school science classroom. ”

4. Not an Activitist Court, but Activist Ill-Informed Board & National Law Firm
“Those who disagree with our holding will likely mark it as the product of an activist judge. If so, they will have erred as this is manifestly not an activist Court. Rather, this case came to us as the result of the activism of an ill-informed faction on a school board, aided by a national public interest law firm eager to find a constitutional test case on ID, who in combination drove the Board to adopt an imprudent and ultimately unconstitutional policy. ”

5. Innane Decision of the Board
“The breathtaking inanity of the Board’s decision is evident when considered against the factual backdrop which has now been fully revealed through this trial. The students, parents, and teachers of the Dover Area School District deserved better than to be dragged into this legal maelstrom, with its resulting utter waste of monetary and personal resources.”

6. ID is not science, therefore is out of science class to preserve separation of church and state
“To preserve the separation of church and state mandated by the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, and Art. I, § 3 of the Pennsylvania Constitution, we will enter an order permanently enjoining Defendants from maintaining the ID Policy in any school within the Dover Area School District, from requiring teachers to denigrate or disparage the scientific theory of evolution, and from requiring teachers to refer to a religious, alternative theory known as ID.”