Haven't yet had a chance to read the opinion, but an interesting point came to mind, which is mostly an intellectual exercise.
Since it appears that the 'new' school board is not going to appeal this decision, what would happen if some future school board decided that it was appropriate to make a statement similar to the one the 'old' school board wanted?
Some future school board is not a party to this particular case, especially if all the members are different.
A further interesting factor is that if there is no judicial review of the trial court decision because the 'new' school board declined to appeal, just how binding is this decision on a future board. This may factor in because there is not currently an adversarial relationship between the plaintifs and the current school board.
Since future school board members are not parties to this law suit, res judicata may very well not apply to a future case.
As a practical matter for the near future, it doesn't make a difference. It would be interesting if the current school board authorized the defense attorneys to pursue an appeal that would conclusively determine any future similar case. That would certainly entail some risks for both parties and I think the current school board/plaintiffs would be wise to simply let things stand as they currently are.
If the Cobb County School Board case is decided in favor of the school board and it goes to the USSC, the Dover case could be, as a practical matter, overturned.
While the evolutionists clearly won the battle in the Dover case, the war is far from over.
They would be held in contempt if they persisted, most likely.
Some future school board is not a party to this particular case, especially if all the members are different.
But the school district, as an entity, is a party to the case, and will continue to be bound by the ruling. It has to be that way - if not, school boards, corporations, and all sorts of collective entities could defer some adverse judgement by simply firing their boards of directors or whatever.