Teaching evolution is still constitutional in Indiana
Publisher: In-Sight Publishing
Publisher Founding: September 1, 2014
Publisher Location: Fort Langley, Township of Langley, British Columbia, Canada
Publication: Critical Science Newswire
Original Link: https://ncse.ngo/teaching-evolution-still-constitutional-indiana
Publication Date: September 10, 2024
Organization: National Center for Science Education
Organization Description: The National Center for Science Education promotes and defends accurate and effective science education because everyone deserves to engage with the evidence. One day, students of all ages will be scientifically literate, teachers will be prepared and empowered to teach accurate science, and scientific thinking and decision-making will ensure that all life can thrive and overcome challenges to our shared future.
By Glenn Branch
A lawsuit in Indiana alleging that the teaching of evolution in public schools is unconstitutional was dismissed by a U.S. District Court on August 30, 2024, reports WISHTV (August 30, 2024).
Jennifer and Jason Reinoehl, parents of five children who attended the Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation, a school district headquartered in Mishawaka, Indiana, and one of their children initially sued the district, the Indiana state board of education, and Katie Jenner, the Indiana Secretary of Education, in May 2023.
The plaintiffs contended that the district schools teach “the state-sponsored, atheistic, religious Theory of Evolution … under the guise that that it is ‘science,'” that what they regard as various components of evolutionary theory have been scientifically disproven, and that “the atheistic Theory of Evolution specially attacks the Judeo-Christian origin story.”
Accordingly, they sought a declaration that the teaching of evolution in Indiana’s public schools violates the federal and the Indiana constitutions, an injunction prohibiting the defendants from teaching evolution in the future and requiring them to remove all relevant instructional materials, and a monetary award of damages.
The court found that the plaintiffs failed to allege an Establishment Clause violation because, in the words of McLean v. Arkansas (1982), “it is clearly established in the case law, and perhaps also in common sense, that evolution is not a religion and that teaching evolution does not violate the Establishment Clause.”
Noting that the plaintiffs apparently sought to invoke a federal statute as a basis for their claim that teaching evolution violates the Indiana constitution, the court dismissed the claim without prejudice, meaning that the plaintiffs could amend the complaint and try again. But the court suggested that doing so would be “futile.”
The case is Reinoehl et al. v. Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation et al., No. 1:23-cv-00889-SEB-MG (2024 S.D. Ind.)
Short Bio
Glenn Branch is Deputy Director of NCSE.
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