Selman v. Cobb County School District, 449 F.3d 1320 (11th Cir. 2006), was a United States court case in Cobb County, Georgia involving a sticker placed in public school biology textbooks. The sticker was a disclaimer stating that "Evolution is a theory, not a fact, concerning the origin of living things." The plaintiffs were parents of children in Cobb County schools who claimed the sticker violated both the Establishment Clause of the United States Constitution and the separation of church and state clause in the Georgia State Constitution because its purpose and effect was to cast doubt on the scientific consensus regarding evolutionary theory in order to promote religious beliefs in the schools. Trial was held in November 2004. In January 2005, Federal District Judge Clarence Cooper decided in favor of the plaintiffs and against the Cobb County School District, finding the stickers violated both the U.S. and Georgia constitutions. He ordered a permanent injunction against schools from disseminating the stickers in the textbooks or any other form. The decision was appealed in the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals which found that they could not assess the lower court case due to gaps and rampant confusion about the evidence apparent in the case record, thus preventing proper appellate review of the constitutional issues. The original decision, in May 2006, was remanded back to the lower district court for new evidentiary inquiry and factfindings. The case was ultimately settled out of court in favor of the plaintiffs.
Background
The statement "evolution is a theory and not a fact" has been used as a tactic by creationists and intelligent design advocates, causing confusion over the difference between how theory is defined and used in the field of science and how the term is used colloquially to signify "conjecture", "speculation" or "opinion". The teaching of both creationism and intelligent design in state schools in the USA have been challenged in court and found to be a violation of the Establishment Clause (notably Edwards v. Aguillard, Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District). Those cases followed an earlier constitutional court ruling against religiously based bans against the teaching of evolution (Epperson v. Arkansas). In 1997 a school policy adopted in Louisiana requiring the reading of a prepared statement before any teaching of evolution was also judged as unconstitutional (Freiler v. Tangipahoa). Beginning in 1976 the Cobb County School District had policies in place requiring that their instructional program consider and accommodate for religious objections held by many of its residents to the science of human evolution. By 1995 the policy was expanded to list five requirements:
Curriculum must be organized such that no student is compelled to study the origin of the human species in science No scientific study in the origin of the human species may be taught at the elementary or middle school level There may be no course requirement for the origin of the human species in science for high school graduation Elective course work must be available to students to investigate alternatives to the origin of the human species in science, including creationism These electives must be identified in course selection guides provided to students and parents This policy did not explicitly refer to the teaching of evolution by name—only the origin of the human species. Although Georgia state law mandated evolution be taught in its public schools, it was common in Cobb County School District that all the pages where evolution was discussed were removed from the students' science textbooks. In 2001, the Cobb County School District began the process of adopting new science textbooks. The adoption process led to a legal review, and later revision, of the previous policy and regulation on theories of human origin. When parents became aware that the proposed new textbook (written by Kenneth Miller and Joseph Levine) and proposed changes to policy would strengthen the teaching of evolution, a petition against the move was organized and signed by 2,300 parents. In an attempt to defuse this protest, the decision was made to attach a sticker containing a statement written by the school district's legal counsel to each new textbook. The sticker 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. Approved by Cobb County Board of Education
Thursday, March 28, 2002 The school board also adopted policy changes emphasizing its aim to "foster critical thinking among the students, to allow academic freedom consistent with legal requirements, to promote tolerance and acceptance of diversity of opinion, and to ensure a posture of neutrality to religion." It was not its intention, the policy continued, to restrict the teaching of evolution, nor to promote creationism. The textbook and policy changes had become a public event, but despite engendering much input from parents and other concerned citizens in the community, no attempt was made to solicit expert scientific opinion in coming to a decision. Intelligent design activists from the Discovery Institute sent school board members written materials and an offer of assistance in drafting the language to put in the sticker, although no evidence was ever shown officials accepted this offer. Following adoption of the sticker, organizations, churches, academics and others from around the country contacted school officials congratulating them for opening the classroom to "the teaching and discussion of creationism and intelligent design". Parent Jeffrey Selman brought action against the school district for imposing the sticker on August 21, 2002, before any revisions to the 1995 policy were adopted. The plaintiff claimed the sticker unduly restricted the teaching of evolution by imposing separate standards from all other scientific theories. He also claimed the effective result was to advance creationism. Changes were made to the 1995 policy shortly after and again in 2003 with new provisions stating evolution would be taught in science classes and not religion. Four other parents were added as plaintiffs in January 2004.
Jeffrey Selman
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