The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1926-01-07
Tenn. court
GETS SCOPES
final BRIEF
Constitutions the De.
tense Basis
Especial to The DAILY Worker,

NASHVILLE, Tenn, Jan. 5-The
attorneys for John Thomas Scopes,
the defendant in the so-caIIed "mon.
key trial" at Dayton, Tennessee, last
summer, when Clarence barrow and
William Jennings Bryan cIashed over
the subject of god versus evolution,
have filed final argument with the
state supreme court, SUMMING up
their arguments and pleading the un-
constltutionaIity of the state law,
which they claim is provocative of
bisotry and religious intolerance.
Cite U. S. Constitution.
The brief claims that the four.
teenth amendment to the United
States constitution is violated by the
law in that it denies due process and
equal protection of the laws. In adj.
dltion the law is claimed to be in
violation Of the Tennessee constitu-
ton providing for religious freedom
and the cherishing of literature and
science.
Legislatures cannot lay down rules
and conclusions in the realms of sci
ence and religion" the brief states
Legislatures were created to formu
late rules of conduct. The framerf
OF the constitution had a very mar
row line within which the rules q.
conduct could be drawn. That linz
has never been drawn to include thu
right to assign a rule to bind the con
sciences or the minds of the people.
Things May Change.
These men," says the brief in ref.
erence to the state Legislators who
passed the law barring teaching of
evolution in the schools, "have seem.
ingly forgotten that a majority of
today may be a minority of tomorrow
and that slight step taken by them
10 promote some religious doctrine
by preventing the teaching of a sci
entihc theory may tomorrow be used
against them, by those who wish to
promulgate an entirely different and
more overwhelming faith"
The defense holds that the preten.
sions of the prosecution that there
was no religious question involved
is false, as the statute actually does
give a preference to the religious
establishments of those particular
protestant sects which believe in the
literal acceptance of the story of
creation in the bible"
Smothering Education.
Gradually, thru the elimination of
the teaching Of anything contrary to
the views of particular sects, as learn.
ing in science becomes subject to the
test of church doctrine, our public
education would become a fraud.
We shall have a country where the
dominant sect holding a temporary
majority in each state or in each sec.
ton will demand that nothing con.
trary to its doctrine be taught in the
public schools.
Thus we would, by elimination.
color or void education on other sub
Iects. The curriculum would be die
lated by religious opinion. Religious
freedom and tolerance would disap-
pear.
I'VE do not challenge the right of
the legislature TO control the public
schols, to fix the curriculum, to for
bid the teaching of biology or any
thing else. We ddo contend. of
course, that if biology is TO be taught,
no legislature has fthe right TO COM
pei the teaching of false biology.
we challenge the right OF any
legislative body infAmerica to recog-
nize by law, the dogma of any relig-
ious sect as the measurement of what
shall be taught the children of our
NMhn.. 49, ....---.-----.