A federal judge in Atlanta has kept alive a lawsuit that seeks to have Cobb County remove disclaimers about evolution from its textbooks.
In an important decision in the 2-year-old case, U.S. District Judge Clarence Cooper found the issue should go to trial, expected sometime later this year.
"We're very excited about this," said attorney Michael Manely, who represents Jeffrey Selman and five other Cobb parents who sued the system in August 2002 after the stickers were placed in the science books. Their lawsuit contends that the placement of the stickers restricts the teaching of evolution, promotes and requires the teaching of creationism and discriminates against particular religions.
The sticker at issue, placed on the inside front cover of Cobb science books, says, "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."
Cooper weighed the constitutionality of the issue by applying a three-pronged test handed down by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1971. In order to get the lawsuit dismissed, the Cobb school board had to show that the sticker was adopted with a secular purpose; that its primary effect neither advances nor inhibits religion; and that it does not result in an excessive entanglement of government with religion.
In an 18-page order signed Wednesday, Cooper said the school board satisfied him on the first — secular purpose — prong of the test.
But Cooper noted that while the sticker does not remind students that they have the right to maintain beliefs taught by their parents and has no biblical reference, the sticker encourages students to consider alternatives other than evolution. "Indeed, most of the board members concurred that they wanted students to consider other alternatives," Cooper wrote in finding the sticker could have the effect of advancing or inhibiting religion.
Cooper also found that "the practical effect of students being encouraged to consider and discuss alternatives to evolution could implicate excessive entanglement concerns."