Intelligent Design Won’t Vanish

HARRISBURG — Supporters on each side of Dover’s federal court case over intelligent design considered the ramifications of the judge’s decision long before arguments began in court.

In the coming weeks, Judge John Jones III will determine if Dover’s board violated the Constitution’s establishment clause by adopting a statement mentioning intelligent design as an alternative to evolutionary theory. Plaintiffs say the statement amounts to teaching religion in public school science class.

The judge has some latitude in his ruling. He could rule, for example, only on the process board members followed in adopting the statement, or he could rule on whether intelligent design is science. Based on previous cases involving the establishment clause, some say what he determines could have a lasting effect on the intelligent-design movement.

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