Intelligent Design Challenge

In December of 2005, a federal court in Pennsylvania issued a ruling in Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District that an effort to teach so-called Intelligent Design Creationism as an alternative to evolution in public schools was an unconstitutional endorsement of religion.

Decision comes down: ACLU wins!

December 20, 2005 - Judge Jones issued a blistering 139-page opinion in the Dover intelligent design trial. There will be a press conference with our lawyers and several plaintiffs in Harrisburg this afternoon.

Biggest trial on evolution in two decades concludes

After six weeks of testimony, the intelligent design trial in Harrisburg came to a close Friday, Nov. 4, 2005, with laughter and applause.

The trial of Kitzmiller v. Dover tests whether American public schools can include 'intelligent design' as a part of science education. The school board in Dover, Pennsylvania, voted in 2004 to require that intelligent design be included in the biology curriculum.

“Intelligent design” is a pseudo-science that has been repudiated by every leading scientific organization, including the American Association for the Advancement of Sciences and the National Academy of Sciences. Each of these organizations asserts that the ideas promoted by ID advocates lack any scientific merit and that their claims cannot be supported by scientific research.

Related Content

Resource

A collage of newspaper headlines from 20 years ago about the ruling on Kiztmiller v. Dover Area School District.

First Amendment Rights

Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District – A 20-year Retrospective on Using the Law to Defend Scientific Integrity

Twenty years ago, in December of 2005, a federal court in Pennsylvania issued a ruling in Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District that an effort to teach so-called Intelligent Design Creationism as an alternative to evolution in public schools was an unconstitutional endorsement of religion.

Press Release

Oct 04, 2004

PA Parents File First-Ever Challenge to 'Intelligent Design' Instruction in Public School

Court Case

Dec 14, 2004

Kitzmiller v. Dover

In December 2004, the ACLU-PA sued the Dover Area School District on behalf of eleven parents who objected to the recent policy that required the teaching of intelligent design in biology classes as an alternative to evolution.