By Kristina Torres
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 01/19/05

Cobb County’s appeal of a federal court ruling banning disclaimers about evolution likely will center on one question: Can someone reasonably assume the stickers in science textbooks convey a religious message when they don’t mention religion at all?

U.S. District Court Judge Clarence Cooper ruled last week that the disclaimers convey an unconstitutional endorsement of religion. But Cobb school board attorney Linwood Gunn said Tuesday that Cooper also noted in his ruling that board members didn’t intend to promote religion in 2002, when they adopted the disclaimers. The disclaimers call evolution “a theory, not a fact.”

In other words, board members don’t think the judge got his story straight, so it’s on to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta.

By Bill Rankin, Kristina Torres
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 01/13/05

A federal judge in Atlanta has declared unconstitutional the evolution disclaimers placed inside science text books by the Cobb County school system and ordered the “stickers” removed immediately.

In a ruling issued today, U.S. District Judge Clarence Cooper said the stickers, which call evolution “a theory, not a fact,” violate the Establishment Clause of the U.S. Constitution.

“Adopted by the school board, funded by the money of taxpayers, and inserted by school personnel, the sticker conveys an impermissible message of endorsement and tells some citizens that they are political outsiders while telling others they are political insiders,” Cooper wrote in a 44-page decision. The stickers send “a message that the school board agrees with the beliefs of Christian fundamentalists and creationists,” Cooper said. “The school board has effectively improperly entangled itself with religion by appearing to take a position. Therefore, the sticker must be removed from all of the textbooks into which it has been placed.”