The American Constitution Society of Syracuse University’s College of Law will host a presentation today by Steve Harvey, a lead plaintiff’s attorney in the first case in the nation to test the constitutionality of teaching intelligent design in public school science classES.

The case, Kitzmiller, et al. v. Dover Area School District, is sometimes called ‘Scopes II’ or the ‘Dover Panda Trial.’

Harvey will speak to the Syracuse community about his experience with the Kitzmiller case and his views on the future of the intelligent design controversy. The presentation will be held from noon to 12:50 p.m. in the College of Law, room 100.

In Oct. 2004, the Dover Area School District in central Pennsylvania was thrust into the national and international spotlight when it became the first district in the country to include in its biology curriculum the concept of intelligent design-the idea that life had to be created by an intelligent, supernatural actor because it is too complex to have developed through natural processes.

The policy required teachers or administrators to read a disclaimer stating that evolution is a theory, not a fact, which contains gaps for which there is no scientific evidence. The disclaimer goes on to offer intelligent design as an alternative and refers students to a reference book on intelligent design, ‘Of Pandas and People.’

A group of parents, represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, Americans United for Separation of Church and State and Pepper Hamilton LLP in Philadelphia, filed suit against the Dover School Board after the board voted to adopt the policy. The parents contended that the board was attempting to introduce religion under the guise of promoting intelligent design as an alternative explanation for the origin of life.

‘Trials like this only happen once in a generation, they’re classic pieces of history that center on the meaning of life,’ said Nick Matzke, spokesperson for the National Center for Science Education. ‘Steve Harvey was right in the middle of it all, delivering some of the best pieces of court drama during a stunning cross examination.’

The U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania ruled the Dover School Board’s policy of reading a disclaimer to ninth grade students in science classes violated the First Amendment Establishment Clause’s requirements of religious neutrality and separation of church and state.

Andrew Sick, a third-year law student and co-president of The American Constitution Society of SU’s College of Law, one of the nation’s leading progressive legal organizations, said bringing speakers like Harvey to campus is an attempt to turn the tide of legal and policy discourse at both the local and national levels.

‘We want to get out the progressive side of the legal argument so people realize certain fundamental values are being eroded,’ Sick said. ‘Harvey was able to win with the progressive argument; Kitzmiller v. Dover was a blatant attempt to get religion in schools.’

The American Constitution Society was founded in 2001 as a counterpoint to the conservative Federalist Society.

‘Kitzmiller v. Dover is a landmark case,’ Harvey said. ‘We were able to prove that intelligent design is not science, it’s a religious viewpoint.’

While Kitzmiller v. Dover revealed the significant legal problems with intelligent design, Harvey said an effort to legislate religious and unscientific views in public school will continue.

‘We’re very pleased with the outcome of the case,’ said Lauren Smith, assistant communications director for Americans United for Separation of Church and State, a non-profit educational organization founded in 1947 by a broad coalition of religious, educational and civic leaders with the expressed purpose of protecting religious liberty in America.

Smith said while the district court sent a resounding message that intelligent design is, in fact, a form of creationism, that doesn’t mean religion cannot be taught in comparative religion classes, philosophy or social studies, it just means religion cannot be taught as fact in science class.

‘Religion can be taught about, it just can’t be taught,’ Smith said.

Harvey practices in the area of commercial litigation and consumer financial services for Pepper Hamilton LLP. He is well known nationally for his pro bono work for the plaintiffs in Kitzmiller. He and partner Eric Rothschild have been invited to speak about the Dover case as well as the intersection of science, law and religion by the National Science Teachers Association, the National Constitution Center and the Society for the Study of Evolution. They have also appeared on many television and radio shows.

Published on November 28, 2006 at 12:00 pm