Butler Act
| Butler Act | |
|---|---|
| Tennessee General Assembly | |
Long title
| |
| Passed by | Tennessee House of Representatives |
| Passed by | Tennessee Senate |
| Signed by | Governor Austin Peay |
| Signed | March 21, 1925 |
| Repealed | September 1, 1967 |
| Legislative history | |
| First chamber: Tennessee House of Representatives | |
| Bill citation | House Bill No. 185 |
| Introduced by | John Washington Butler |
| Introduced | January 21, 1925 |
| Committee responsible | House Committee on Education |
| Passed | January 28, 1925 |
| Voting summary |
|
| Second chamber: Tennessee Senate | |
| Committee responsible | Senate Judiciary Committee |
| Passed | March 13, 1925 |
| Voting summary |
|
| Repealed by | |
| Chapter No. 237, House Bill No. 48 | |
| Status: Repealed | |
The Butler Act was a 1925
The law was challenged later that year in a famous trial in
Provisions of the law
The law, "An act prohibiting the teaching of the Evolution Theory in all the Universities, and all other public schools of Tennessee, which are supported in whole or in part by the public school funds of the State, and to provide penalties for the violations thereof" (Tenn. HB 185, 1925) specifically provided:
- That it shall be unlawful for any teacher in any of the
It additionally outlined that an offending teacher would be guilty of a misdemeanor and fined between $100 and $500 for each offense.
By the terms of the statute, it could be argued, it was not illegal to teach evolution in respect to non-human creatures, such as that
Challenges
The law was challenged by the
We are not able to see how the prohibition of teaching the theory that man has descended from a lower order of animals gives preference to any religious establishment or mode of worship. So far as we know, there is no religious establishment or organized body that has in its creed or confession of faith any article denying or affirming such a theory. — Scopes v. State 289 S.W. 363, 367 (Tenn. 1927)
Despite this decision, the Tennessee Supreme Court reversed the conviction on a technicality (that the jury should have fixed the amount of the fine), and the case was not retried. During the trial, Butler told reporters: "I never had any idea my bill would make a fuss. I just thought it would become a law, and that everybody would abide by it and that we wouldn't hear any more of evolution in Tennessee."[3]
The law remained on the books until 1967, when teacher Gary L. Scott of Jacksboro, Tennessee, who had been dismissed for violation of the act, sued for reinstatement, citing his First Amendment right to free speech. Although his termination was rescinded, Scott continued his fight with a class action lawsuit in the Nashville Federal District Court, seeking a permanent injunction against enforcement of that law. Within three days of his filing suit, a bill for repeal of the Butler Act had passed both houses of the Tennessee legislature and was signed into law May 18 by Governor Buford Ellington.[4]
See also
References
- ^ "Full text of the Butler Act and the bill that repealed it". Archived from the original on 2009-05-20. Retrieved 2005-02-19.
- ^ "Darwin Online: The Descent of Man".
- ^ Hariman, Robert. Popular Trials : Rhetoric, Mass Media, and the Law. Tuscaloosa, University Of Alabama Press, 1993, p. 57.
- ^ Randy Moore, Evolution in the Courtroom: A Reference Guide ABC-Clio Inc., 2001. pp. 58–59 [ISBN missing]
- "Author of the Law Surprised by Fuss", The New York Times (18 July 1925), p. 1.