Lawyers debate fate of La. evolution law
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Two Baton Rouge lawyers disagreed Monday on whether Louisiana’s new law to revamp the way evolution is taught in public schools will be struck down in the courts.
Michael Wolf, a Baton Rouge lawyer, predicted the measure will be declared unconstitutional.
“It is an attempt to prove things by scriptural authority rather than scientific evidence,” Wolf said.
But Darrell White, co-founder of a group that helped push the law through the Legislature, said he could not even predict whether the new rules will face a legal challenge.
“Can I say without doubt that this or any other piece of legislation will not be challenged? Who knows?” White asked.
White and Wolf traded views before the Press Club of Baton Rouge.
White is co-founder of the Louisiana Family Forum and a former city court judge.
The forum was a key advocate of the bill. The group touts itself as promoting traditional family values.
Wolf said he has consulted on the issue with Americans United for Separation of Church and State, which calls itself a national watchdog organization to prevent government-backed religious teaching.
The issue they discussed is a new law called the Louisiana Science Education Act. Officials on both sides of the debate have said Louisiana is the only state in the nation with such a sweeping measure.
The law, which breezed through the Legislature, will allow science teachers to use DVDs and other supplemental materials, in addition to state-issued textbooks, on volatile issues such as evolution.
Backers contend the new rules will allow for wide-open classroom debates.
“Science itself is still an evolving discipline,” White said.
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