McLean v. Arkansas Board of Education, 529 F. Supp. 1255 (E.D. Ark. 1982), was a 1981 legal case in the US state of Arkansas.
A lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas by various parents, religious groups and organizations, biologists, and others who argued that the Arkansas state law known as the Balanced Treatment for Creation-Science and Evolution-Science Act (Act 590), which mandated the teaching of "creation science" in Arkansas public schools, was unconstitutional because it violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.
Judge William Overton handed down a decision on January 5, 1982, giving a clear, specific definition of science as a basis for ruling that creation science is religion and is simply not science. The ruling was not binding on schools outside the Eastern District of Arkansas but had considerable influence on subsequent rulings on the teaching of creationism.
Arkansas did not appeal the decision and it was not until the 1987 case of Edwards v. Aguillard,. which dealt with a similar law passed by the State of Louisiana, that teaching "creation science" was ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court, making that determination applicable nationwide.
Act 590 had been put forward by a Christian fundamentalist on the basis of a request from the Greater Little Rock Evangelical Fellowship for the introduction of legislation based on a "model act" prepared using material from the Institute for Creation Research. It was opposed by many religious organizations and other groups.
Parties Judge William Overton oversaw the case as the sitting Judge for the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Arkansas in 1961 and completed his LL.B (Bachelor of Laws) from the University of Arkansas School of Law in 1964. He operated a private practice in Little Rock, Arkansas from 1964-1979 before he was nominated for his judgeship by Jimmy Carter on March 7, 1979, to a new seat authorized by 92 Stat. 1629. He was confirmed by the Senate on May 10, 1979.
The plaintiffs in the suit, who opposed the "balanced treatment" statute, included Reverend William McLean, a United Methodist minister. The other plaintiffs, represented by the ACLU, were: Bishop Kenneth Hicks, of the Arkansas Conferences of the United Methodist Church; The Right Reverend Herbert A. Donovan of the Episcopal Diocese of Arkansas; The Most Reverend Andrew Joseph McDonald, Catholic Bishop of Little Rock; Bishop Frederick C. James of the African Methodist Episcopal Church or Arkansas; The Reverend Nathan Porter, individually and as father and next friend of Joel Randolph Porter; The Reverend George W. Gunn, minister of the Pulaski Heights Presbyterian Church in Little Rock; Dr. Richard B. Hardie, Jr., minister of the Westover Hills Presbyterian Church in Little Rock; The Reverend Earl B. Carter, minister of the United Methodist Church, and program director of the North Arkansas Conference of the United Methodist Church; The Reverend George Panner, minister of the United Methodist Church, and program director of the Little Rock Conference of the United Methodist church; Dr. John P. Miles, minister of St. James United Methodist Church in Little Rock, and vice-chair of Americans United for Separation of Church and State in Arkansas; Rev. Jerry Canada, minister of the United Methodist Church, and editor of The Arkansas Methodist; The American Jewish Congress and American Jewish Committee, two national Jewish organizations; The Union of American Hebrew Congregations, the national federation of Reform Jews; Frances C. Roelfs, a biology teacher at Springdale High School in Springdale, Arkansas; Charles Bowlus, individually and as father and next friend of Cordelia Ann and Christopher Felix; Lon Schultz, individually and as father and next friend of Andrea Schultz; The Arkansas Education Association, a teachers' union; The National Association of Biology Teachers; E. E. Hudson, Associate Professor of Biological Sciences at Arkansas Technical University; Mike Wilson, of Jacksonville, Arkansas, an attorney and member of the Arkansas House of Representatives who voted against the act; National Coalition For Public Education and Religious Liberty (National PEARL).
The defendants, represented by Attorney General Steve Clark, were:
The Arkansas Board of Education and its members, in their official capacity; The director of the Department of Education, in his official capacity; The State Textbooks and Instructional materials Selecting Committee; The Pulaski County Special School District and its directors and superintendent were named in the original complaint but were voluntarily dismissed by plaintiffs at the pre-trial conference on October 1, 1981.
When Bill Clinton was elected governor of Arkansas in 1975, Clark was elected attorney general, narrowly defeating state representative Art Givens in the Democratic primary. He argued eight cases before the U.S. Supreme Court.
Background Various state laws prohibiting teaching of evolution had been introduced in the 1920s.
In the early 1960's, there was a resurgence of concern among Fundamentalists about the loss of traditional values and a fear of growing secularism in society. The Fundamentalist movement became more active and steadily grew in numbers and political influence. There was emphasis among Fundamentalists on the literal interpretation of the Bible and the Book of Genesis as the sole source of knowledge about origins. The term "scientific creationism" first gained currency around 1965 following publication of The Genesis Flood in 1961 by Whitcomb and Morris. In the 1960's and early 1970's, several Fundamentalist organizations were formed to promote the idea that the Book of Genesis was supported by scientific data. The terms "creation science" and "scientific creationism" were adopted by these Fundamentalists as descriptive of their study of creation and the origins of man. The leading creationist organization was the Institute for Creation Research (ICR), which is affiliated with the Christian heritage College and supported by the Scott Memorial Baptist Church in San Diego, California. The common Fundamentalist Creationist opinion is that evolution is unchristian and unscientific. "Evolution is thus not only anti-Biblical and anti-Christian, but it is utterly unscientific and impossible as well. But it has served effectively as the pseudo-scientific basis of atheism, agnosticism, socialism, fascism, and numerous other false and dangerous philosophies over the past century" [Morris and Clark, The Bible Has The Answer, (Px 31 and Pretrial Px 89)]Various evolution curriculum laws were challenged in 1968 at Epperson v. Arkansas. The Arkansas legislature passed a law that prohibited the instructors at public or state-funded schools to teach or use textbooks for teaching human evolution. Epperson, who was a public school teacher, sued, arguing that it violated her First Amendment protection to free speech and as well the Establishment Clause. The State Chancery Court ruled that it violated her right to free speech; this decision was later reversed by the State Supreme Court. It was ruled that "The law's effort was confined to an attempt to blot out a particular theory because of its supposed conflict with the Biblical account, literally read. Plainly, the law is contrary to the mandate of the First, and in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution.".
The creationist movement turned to promoting teaching creationism in school science classes as equal to evolutionary theory.
Arkansas Act 590 Arkansas Act 590 of 1981, entitled the "Balanced Treatment for Creation Science and Evolution Science Act," required a "balanced treatment" of creation-science and evolution-science in Arkansas public schools. James L. Holsted introduced the legislation, Senate Bill 482, without consulting with the Arkansas Department of Education, and the bill passed the Senate on March 13, 1981, without going through a committee for hearings and with only a few minutes of discussion on the Senate floor. The House of Representatives conducted only a 15-minute hearing before passing the bill 69-18.
Creation science was defined as follows: "Creation science means the scientific evidences for creation and inferences from those evidences." Creation science includes the scientific evidences and related inferences that indicate: Sudden creation of the universe, energy and life from nothing; The insufficiency of mutation and natural selection in bringing about development of all living kinds from a single organism; Changes only with fixed limits of originally created kinds of plants and animals; Separate ancestry for man and apes; Explanation of the Earth's geology by catastrophism, including the occurrence of a worldwide flood; A relatively recent inception of the Earth and living things.
Evolution science was defined as follows: "Evolution-science" means the scientific evidences for evolution and inferences from those scientific evidences. Evolution-science includes the scientific evidences and related inferences that indicate: Emergence by naturalistic processes of the universe from disordered matter and emergence of life from nonlife; The sufficiency of mutation and natural selection in bringing about development of present living kinds from simple earlier kinds; Emergency [sic] by mutation and natural selection of present living kinds from simple earlier kinds; Emergence of man from a common ancestor with apes; Explanation of the Earth's geology and the evolutionary sequence by uniformitarianism; and An inception several billion years ago of the Earth and somewhat later of life.
The act was signed into law by Governor Frank D. White on March 19, 1981.
Trial
Prosecution and defense A suit by The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Bill McLean, et al. against The State of Arkansas, et al., prompted a two-week trial in Little Rock, Arkansas, 7 December 1981.
Consistent with the requirements of the Establishment Clause, the ACLU policy on religion in public schools states that "...any program of religious indoctrination -- direct or indirect -- in the public schools or by use of public resources is a violation of the constitutional principle of separation of church and state and must be opposed...." In 1980, the Board of Directors further clarified this policy by stating, "ACLU also opposes the inculcation of religious doctrines even if they are presented as alternatives to scientific theories."
The ACLU was supported by New York law firm, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom who volunteered their attorneys, law students, paralegals, etc. The ACLU took a two-pronged approach, with a “religious team” of witnesses arguing that creationism was an explicitly religious doctrine, and a “scientific team” whose job was to undercut the supposed scientific claims of creationism.
Attorney General Steve Clark was seen as a reluctant defender of Act 590, and a number of state and national groups attempted to sign on as institutional defendants, citing a statement of Clark’s that he had “personal qualms” about the constitutionality of the act as a sign that he would not represent the case for creationism with full fervor. However, Judge Overton refused to allow any outside intervention. Then, it came to light in December 1981, in the very midst of the trial, that Clark had allowed the ACLU to auction off a dinner with him as part of a fundraising campaign.
Legal arguments The prosecution centered their argument against the language in Section IV of Act 590.
Section 4 of Act 590 provides:Definitions, as used in this Act: