WFHB Bloomington Community Radio
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U.S. District Judge John Jones III is best known for his landmark ruling that the teaching of intelligent design in public schools is unconstitutional. At stake in Kitzmiller versus Dover was a pro-intelligent design school board policy and the book “Of Pandas and People”, which used the term “intelligent design” to mean a specific field of inquiry. The case arose after the Dover Area School District board announced in November 2004 that science teachers would be required to read a statement referring to “gaps” in Darwin’s theory of evolution and referring students to “Of Pandas and People” for an alternative view. Eleven parents, represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, filed suit. After a six-week trial, Jones issued a 139-page decision on December 20, 2005, that said the school board policy was an unconstitutional violation of the Establishment Clause of the Constitution and that intelligent design should not be taught in public schools. Jones was in Bloomington Friday to discuss judicial independence in the context of his service on the bench and his role in the intelligent design case in this WFHB exclusive.
