JUDGE RULES EVOLUTION DISCLAIMERS "UNCONSTITUTIONAL"

ASSOCIATED PRESS

[SoFloFreeper]

ATLANTA (AP) -- Federal judge rules the evolution disclaimer stickers placed inside Cobb County science textbooks are unconsitutional.

[Mister Baredog]

JUDGE RULES EVOLUTION DISCLAIMERS "UNCONSTITUTIONAL"

WTF???

"Tyrant in black robe strikes again!!!"

[general_re]

As moronic as those stickers are, this is a 10th Amendment issue.

Unfortunately, the 10'th is a dead letter, and the 14'th isn't - hence the current state of affairs.

[CSM]

I agree. From the looks of it I don't see anything in that wording that looks to be untrue. I have to wonder, does this judge have some proof that moves evolution from theory to fact?

[tutstar]

I guess that means no unbiased viewpoints from teachers. /sarcasm

[airborne]

There are a lot of decisions from Federal Courts that should have disclaimers!

[scannell]

Before I get too excited, I would like to know what the Disclaimer says (that was declared unconstutional). Was it notifying the reader that the contents including evolution was only a theory OR was it notifying the reader that the contents including creation was only a theory. ????

[xzins]

If the national applies to the state in this case, then it remains to be shown how the legislature of Virginia has passed a law creating a Virginia State Church or how the legislature of Virginia has passed a law preventing someone from practicing their religion.

Is putting stickers in a textbook a new method in Virginia for the legislature to pass a bill?

[mhking]

Before I get too excited, I would like to know what the Disclaimer says (that was declared unconstutional). Was it notifying the reader that the contents including evolution was only a theory OR was it notifying the reader that the contents including creation was only a theory. ????

"This textbook contains material on evolution. Evolution is a theory, not a fact, regarding the origin of living things. This material should be approached with an open mind, studied carefully and critically considered."

[mikeus_maximus]

No doubt a Clinton appointee.

[PatrickHenry]

The opinion is here. It's a pdf file: SELMAN, et al. vs COBB COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT.

[xzins]

School boards should be easy to deal with, but actually folks don't really remember from election to election who did what and who is an incumbent and who isn't.

Vote the rascals out....if you can remember who the rascals are? :>)

That aside: more of us should run for those boards ourselves.

[4CJ]

the sticker conveys an impermissible message of endorsement

From the Georgia Constitution, 'Each person has the natural and inalienable right to worship God, each according to the dictates of that person's own conscience; and no human authority should, in any case, control or interfere with such right of conscience.'

I guess the judge is not human.

[ohioWfan]

"...an impermissible message of endorsement and tells some citizens that they are political outsiders while telling others they are political insiders,"

Stating the FACT that the theory of evolution is a theory, and NOT a fact is an 'impermissible message of endorsement???'

These libs are a tad defensive on this issue, aren't they?

[mhking]

That aside: more of us should run for those boards ourselves.

Shhh!!! You'll give some folks some strange ideas about drafting folks...[g]

[massgopguy]

Calling The Theory of Evolution by its name is unconstitutional? What amdendment to the Constitution outlawed the dictionary?

[Dog Gone]

Gravity is a theory, not a fact.

[xzins]

Great tagline!

[george wythe]

"Endorsement" has replaced "establishment" in the copies of the Constitution carried by these judges, IF they even bother to carry or consult one.

Even using the "endorsement" viewpoint, I read the sticker, but I can't figure out which religious idea is being endorsed.

It might be a tacky sticker, written poorly, but 'endorsing' a religious tenet?

The stickers read, "This textbook contains material on evolution. Evolution is a theory, not a fact, regarding the origin of living things. This material should be approached with an open mind, studied carefully and critically considered."

[narby]

The left is trying mightly to drag conservatives into a fight over evolution. They understand that they can 1) win the fight. 2) distract us from more important fights such as surpreme court nominees. 3) Soak up our political capital on this wasted issue and keep the SocSec money pouring into the congressional spending accounts.

Conservatives need to ignore this issue. The left is using it as bait.

[general_re]

Well, it's Georgia in this case, which you probably knew. The state legislature of Georgia delegated authority over the Cobb county schools to the Cobb county school board, which issued a regulation requiring these stickers - said regulation being, essentially, a form of lawmaking. We may not care for the outcome here, but to object that regulatory authorities are not legislative bodies, and hence cannot violate the Constitution, is throwing the baby out with the bathwater - we'd never be able to object to the EPA or the Department of Education or any regulatory agency violating the constitution either, since they're also not Congress.

FWIW, I think the stickers were an intensely stupid idea. I also think that the federal government has no business getting involved, but the current state of the law allows them to do just that, and that will not change until the people of this country are convinced that it should change.