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88-470: The Scopes trial , formally The State of Tennessee v. John Thomas Scopes , and commonly referred to as the Scopes Monkey Trial , was an American legal case from July 10 to July 21, 1925, in which a high school teacher, John T. Scopes , was accused of violating Tennessee 's Butler Act , which had made it illegal for teachers to teach human evolution in any state-funded school. The trial

176-464: A remedy . The remedy sought may be money, an injunction , which requires the defendant to perform or refrain from performing some action, or a declaratory judgment , which determines that the plaintiff has certain legal rights. The remedy will be prescribed by the court if the plaintiff wins the case. A civil case can also be arbitrated through arbitration , which may result in a faster settlement, with lower costs, than could be obtained by going through

264-964: A retrial , while Scopes' lawyers offered angry comments on the stunning decision. In 1968, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled in Epperson v. Arkansas 393 U.S. 97 (1968) that such bans contravene the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment because their primary purpose is religious. Tennessee had repealed the Butler Act the previous year. Legal case In the United States , Congressional hearings are not generally considered legal proceedings, as they are generally not directed towards

352-528: A "busted belly" while attempting to deliver his summation in a chaotic courtroom. None of these incidents happened in Dayton, Tennessee during the trial. The results of the Scopes Trial affected Scopes professionally and personally. His public image was mocked by animation, cartoons and other media during the succeeding years. Scopes himself largely shunned publicity. During September 1925, he enrolled in

440-403: A $ 100 fine (equivalent to $ 1,700 in 2023). Raulston imposed the fine before Scopes was given an opportunity to say anything about why the court should not impose punishment upon him and after Neal brought the error to the judge's attention the defendant spoke for the first and only time in court: Your honor, I feel that I have been convicted of violating an unjust statute. I will continue in

528-588: A chapter in George William Hunter 's textbook, Civic Biology: Presented in Problems (1914), which described the theory of evolution, race, and eugenics . The two sides brought in the biggest legal names in the nation, Bryan for the prosecution and Clarence Darrow for the defense, and the trial was followed on radio transmissions throughout the United States. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) offered to defend anyone accused of teaching

616-416: A closing speech, the prosecution was also barred from summing up its case, preventing Bryan from presenting his prepared summation. Scopes never testified since there was never a factual issue as to whether he had taught evolution. Scopes later admitted that, in reality, he was unsure of whether he had taught evolution (another reason the defense did not want him to testify), but the point was not contested at

704-419: A copy of the documents associated with the designation previously assigned to the case. However, it is often more convenient to refer to cases – particularly landmark and other notable cases – by a title of the form Claimant v Defendant (e.g. Arkell v Pressdram ). Where a legal proceeding does not have formally designated adverse parties, a form such as In re , Re or In

792-440: A defendant, then I'll be willing to stand trial." Scopes urged students to testify against him and coached them in their answers. He was indicted on May 25, after three students testified against him at the grand jury; one student afterwards told reporters: "I believe in part of evolution, but I don't believe in the monkey business." Judge John T. Raulston accelerated the convening of the grand jury and "...   all but instructed

880-405: A legal case may occur between parties that are not in opposition, but require a legal ruling to formally establish some legal facts. A civil case, more commonly known as a lawsuit or controversy , begins when a plaintiff files most a document called a complaint with a court, informing the court of the wrong that the plaintiff has allegedly suffered because of the defendant , and requesting

968-517: A person suspected of a crime is indicted by a grand jury or otherwise charged with the offense by a government official called a prosecutor or district attorney . A criminal case may in some jurisdictions be settled before a trial through a plea bargain . Typically, in a plea bargain, the defendant agrees to plead guilty to a lesser charge than that which was originally brought by the grand jury or prosecutor. A defendant who goes to trial risks greater penalties than would normally be imposed through

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1056-409: A plea bargain. Legal cases, whether criminal or civil, are premised on the idea that a dispute will be fairly resolved when a legal procedure exists by which the dispute can be brought to a factfinder not otherwise involved in the case, who can evaluate evidence to determine the truth with respect to claims of guilt, innocence, liability, or lack of fault. Details of the procedure may depend on both

1144-694: A standard pseudonym ( Jane Roe in Roe v. Wade ) or by an initial ( D v D ). In titles such as R v Adams , however, the initial "R" is usually an abbreviation for the Latin Rex or Regina , i.e. for the Crown . (For an explanation of other terms that may appear in case titles, see the Glossary of legal terms .) [REDACTED] Quotations related to Legal proceedings at Wikiquote John T. Scopes John Thomas Scopes (August 3, 1900 – October 21, 1970)

1232-425: A textbook that explicitly described and endorsed the theory of evolution, and that teachers were, therefore, effectively required to break the law. Scopes mentioned that while he could not remember whether he had actually taught evolution in class, he had, however, gone through the evolution chart and chapter with the class. Scopes added to the group: "If you can prove that I've taught evolution and that I can qualify as

1320-639: A trial. The plaintiff must make a genuine effort to inform the defendant of the case through service of process , by which the plaintiff delivers to the defendant the same documents that the plaintiff filed with the court. At any point during the case, the parties can agree to a settlement , which will end the case, although in some circumstances, such as in class actions , a settlement requires court approval in order to be binding. Cases involving separation including asset division, support (also known as maintenance or alimony), and matters related to children are handled differently in different jurisdictions. Often,

1408-414: A zoologist from Johns Hopkins University , the judge would not allow these experts to testify in person. Instead, they were allowed to submit written statements so their evidence could be used at the appeal. In response to this decision, Darrow made a sarcastic comment to Judge Raulston (as he often did throughout the trial) on how he had been agreeable only on the prosecution's suggestions. Darrow apologized

1496-598: Is a modest and unassuming young chap, and has been subjected to a great deal more limelight than he likes." A year later, the Tennessee Supreme Court decision of 1926 prompted the press to pursue Scopes again. During this time, he wrote to Thorne, "I am tired of fooling with them".   It is evident that the media's attention was affecting Scopes emotionally. Even worse, the Great Depression affected his career.  After his graduation, he

1584-420: Is belief or unbelief in the wisdom of the prohibition laws. It would appear that members of the same churches quite generally disagree as to these things. Further, the court held that while the statute forbade the teaching of evolution (as the court had defined it) it did not require teaching any other doctrine and thus did not benefit any one religious doctrine or sect over others. Nevertheless, having found

1672-517: Is no religious establishment or organized body that has in its creed or confession of faith any article denying or affirming such a theory. So far as we know, the denial or affirmation of such a theory does not enter into any recognized mode of worship. Since this cause has been pending in this court, we have been favored, in addition to briefs of counsel and various amici curiae, with a multitude of resolutions, addresses, and communications from scientific bodies, religious factions, and individuals giving us

1760-414: Is not admissible, so all we can do is to take an exception and carry it to a higher court to see whether the evidence is admissible or not   ... we cannot even explain to you that we think you should return a verdict of not guilty. We do not see how you could. We do not ask it. Darrow closed the case for the defense without a final summation. Under Tennessee law, when the defense waived its right to make

1848-431: Is the popular significance of evolution, just as the popular significance of prohibition is prohibition of the traffic in intoxicating liquors. It was in that sense that evolution was used in this act. It is in this sense that the word will be used in this opinion, unless the context otherwise indicates. It is only to the theory of the evolution of man from a lower type that the act before us was intended to apply, and much of

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1936-569: The British novelist H. G. Wells asking him to join the defense team. Wells replied that he had no legal training in Britain, let alone in America, and declined the offer. John R. Neal , a law school professor from Knoxville , announced that he would act as Scopes' attorney whether Scopes liked it or not, and he became the nominal head of the defense team. Baptist pastor William Bell Riley ,

2024-669: The Butler Act on the grounds that it violated the teacher's individual rights and academic freedom , and was therefore unconstitutional. Principally because of Clarence Darrow, this strategy changed as the trial progressed. The earliest argument proposed by the defense once the trial had begun was that there was actually no conflict between evolution and the creation account in the Bible; later, this viewpoint would be called theistic evolution . In support of this claim, they brought in eight experts on evolution. But other than Maynard Metcalf ,

2112-631: The Butler Act was passed in Tennessee, on March 25, 1925. Butler later stated, "I didn't know anything about evolution   ... I'd read in the papers that boys and girls were coming home from school and telling their fathers and mothers that the Bible was all nonsense." Tennessee governor Austin Peay signed the bill to gain support among rural legislators, but believed the law would neither be enforced nor interfere with education in Tennessee schools. William Jennings Bryan thanked Peay enthusiastically for

2200-810: The Rhea County High School football coach, and occasionally served as a substitute teacher. Scopes' involvement with the Scopes Trial occurred after the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) announced that it would finance a test case challenging the constitutionality of the Butler Act if it could find a Tennessee teacher who was willing to act as a defendant. A group of businessmen in Dayton, Tennessee, especially engineer and geologist George Rappleyea , considered this an opportunity to get publicity for their town, and Rappleyea spoke with Scopes, stating that while

2288-553: The Tennessee State Constitution , which provided that "It shall be the duty of the General Assembly in all future periods of this government, to cherish literature and science." The argument was that the theory of the descent of man from a lower order of animals was now established by the preponderance of scientific thought, and that the prohibition of the teaching of such theory was a violation of

2376-477: The Act, which he called a 'high misdemeanor'. The jury foreman himself was unconvinced of the merit of the Act but he acted, as did most of the jury, on the instructions of the judge. Bryan chastised evolution for teaching children that humans were but one of 35,000 types of mammals and bemoaned the notion that human beings were descended "Not even from American monkeys, but from old world monkeys". Darrow responded for

2464-521: The Bible" while Darrow replied that Bryan's statements on the Bible were "foolish". On the seventh day of the trial, Clarence Darrow took the unorthodox step of calling William Jennings Bryan, counsel for the prosecution, to the stand as a witness in an effort to demonstrate that belief in the historicity of the Bible and its many accounts of miracles was unreasonable. Bryan accepted, on the understanding that Darrow would in turn submit to questioning by Bryan. Although Hays would claim in his autobiography that

2552-405: The Butler Act prohibited the teaching of human evolution, the state required teachers to use the assigned textbook, George William Hunter 's Civic Biology (1914), which included a chapter concerning evolution. Rappleyea argued that teachers were thus essentially required to violate the law. When asked about a test case, Scopes was initially reluctant to get involved. After some discussion he told

2640-523: The Constitution that an impeachment proceeding be primarily a legal proceeding, akin to a criminal prosecution, rather than a political one". A legal case is in a general sense a dispute between opposing parties which may be resolved by a court , or by some equivalent legal process. A legal case is typically based on either civil or criminal law . In most legal cases, there are one or more accusers and one or more defendants . In some instances,

2728-510: The Darrow character and Fredric March as the Bryan character. Both the play and the movie change the facts substantially. For example, the character of Bertram Cates is shown being arrested in class, put in jail, burned in effigy by frenzied, mean-spirited, and ignorant townspeople, and taunted by a preacher. The character of Matthew Harrison Brady, an almost comical fanatic, dramatically dies of

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2816-472: The Dayton businessmen had assumed that he had violated the law. Hutchinson did not file his story until after the Scopes appeal was decided in 1927. In 1955, the trial was fictionalized as a play titled Inherit The Wind featuring Paul Muni as a character based on Clarence Darrow and Ed Begley as a character based on William Jennings Bryan. In 1960, a movie version of the play featured Spencer Tracy as

2904-557: The Tennessee Religious Preference clause was designed to prevent the establishment of a state religion as had been the experience in England and Scotland at the writing of the Constitution, and held: 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

2992-684: The United Production Corporation, later known as the United Gas Corporation . There, he first worked in Beeville, Texas , then, he worked in the company's Houston office until 1940, and later, he worked in Shreveport, Louisiana, where he stayed until his death. United Gas merged into what was Pennzoil during 1968. Scopes attended the 1960 premiere of Inherit The Wind and he also participated in

3080-410: The agnostics to hunt for her". When Darrow addressed the issue of the temptation of Eve by the serpent , Bryan insisted that the Bible be quoted verbatim rather than allowing Darrow to paraphrase it in his own terms. However, after another angry exchange, Judge Raulston banged his gavel, adjourning the court. The confrontation between Bryan and Darrow lasted approximately two hours on the afternoon of

3168-415: The benefit of their views upon the theory of evolution. Examination of these contributions indicates that Protestants, Catholics, and Jews are divided among themselves in their beliefs, and that there is no unanimity among the members of any religious establishment as to this subject. Belief or unbelief in the theory of evolution is no more a characteristic of any religious establishment or mode of worship than

3256-454: The bill: "The Christian parents of the state owe you a debt of gratitude for saving their children from the poisonous influence of an unproven hypothesis." In response, the American Civil Liberties Union financed a test case in which John Scopes, a Tennessee high school science teacher, agreed to be tried for violating the Act. Scopes, who had substituted for the regular biology teacher, was charged on May 5, 1925, with teaching evolution from

3344-633: The celebration of John T. Scopes Day. Scopes and the story of his trial were featured in an episode of the television game show To Tell The Truth on October 10, 1960. In June 1967, Scopes wrote Center of the Storm: Memoirs of John T. Scopes . The Butler Act was repealed that same year. Scopes married Mildred Elizabeth Scopes (née Walker) (1905–1990). Together they had two sons: John Thomas Jr. and William Clement "Bill". He died of cancer on October 21, 1970, in Shreveport, Louisiana at

3432-407: The clouds and shoot down from above, thus making the battlefield three times as bloody as it was before; but science does not teach brotherly love. Science has made war so hellish that civilization was about to commit suicide; and now we are told that newly discovered instruments of destruction will make the cruelties of the late war seem trivial in comparison with the cruelties of wars that may come in

3520-402: The conviction on several grounds. First, they argued that the statute was overly vague because it prohibited the teaching of "evolution", a very broad term. The court rejected that argument, holding: Evolution, like prohibition, is a broad term. In recent bickering, however, evolution has been understood to mean the theory which holds that man has developed from some pre-existing lower type. This

3608-560: The court's procedure for dealing with family cases is very similar to that of a civil case (it requires service and disclosure, and will issue judgments). Divorce and separation from a spouse is one of the most stressful situations, as rated by the Holmes and Rahe Stress Scale , and so family proceedings are increasingly being "divorced" from the often very formal and impersonal process of civil proceedings, and given special treatment. A criminal case , in common law jurisdictions, begins when

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3696-407: The court, as Bryan was a counsel for the prosecution and Bryan himself (according to a journalist reporting the trial) never made a claim of being an expert, although he did tout his knowledge of the Bible. This testimony revolved around several questions regarding Biblical stories and Bryan's beliefs (as shown below); this testimony culminated in Bryan declaring that Darrow was using the court to "slur

3784-515: The defendant was laughing while he was giving the address to the graduating class six years earlier. The case ended on July 21, 1925, with a verdict of guilty, and Scopes was fined $ 100 (equivalent to $ 1,737 in 2023). The case was appealed to the Tennessee Supreme Court . In a 3–1 decision written by Chief Justice Grafton Green , the Butler Act was held to be constitutional, but the court overturned Scopes's conviction because

3872-422: The defense in a speech that was universally considered the oratorical climax of the trial. Arousing fears of "inquisitions", Darrow argued that the Bible should be preserved in the realm of theology and morality and not put into a course of science. In his conclusion, Darrow declared that Bryan's "duel to the death" against evolution should not be made one-sided by a court ruling that took away the chief witnesses for

3960-435: The defense team and offered his services. Neal accepted, without consulting the rest of the defense team or the defendant himself. The ACLU had been seeking out an addition to the defense that would parallel Bryan's political experience and had previously expressed concern that "Darrow's militant agnosticism would imperil Scopes' defense" and therefore "did not want Darrow anywhere near" the Scopes trial. Darrow later claimed he

4048-415: The defense testimony on the Bible was irrelevant and should not be presented to the jury (which had been excluded during the defense). On the seventh day of the trial, the defense asked the judge to call Bryan as a witness to question him on the Bible, as their own experts had been rendered irrelevant; Darrow had planned this the day before and called Bryan a "Bible expert". This move surprised those present in

4136-434: The defense. Darrow promised there would be no duel because "there is never a duel with the truth." The courtroom went wild when Darrow finished; Scopes declared Darrow's speech to be the dramatic high point of the entire trial and insisted that part of the reason Bryan wanted to go on the stand was to regain some of his tarnished glory. On the sixth day of the trial, the defense ran out of witnesses. The judge declared that all

4224-400: The discussion we have heard is beside this case. Second, the lawyers argued that the statute violated Scopes' constitutional right to free speech because it prohibited him from teaching evolution. The court rejected this argument, holding that the state was permitted to regulate his speech as an employee of the state: He was an employee of the state of Tennessee or of a municipal agency of

4312-414: The effect the session was having, snapped that its purpose was "to cast ridicule on everybody who believes in the Bible". Darrow, with equal vehemence, retorted "We have the purpose of preventing bigots and ignoramuses from controlling the education of the United States." A few more questions followed in the charged open-air courtroom. Darrow asked where Cain got his wife; Bryan answered that he would "leave

4400-411: The examination of Bryan was unplanned, Darrow spent the night before in preparation. The scientists the defense had brought to Dayton—and Charles Francis Potter , a modernist minister who had engaged in a series of public debates on evolution with the fundamentalist preacher John Roach Straton —prepared topics and questions for Darrow to address to Bryan on the witness stand. Kirtley Mather , chairman of

4488-464: The fact he had not tried a case in thirty-six years. As Scopes pointed out to James Presley in the book Center of the Storm , on which the two collaborated: "After [Bryan] was accepted by the state as a special prosecutor in the case, there was never any hope of containing the controversy within the bounds of constitutionality." Following the recruitment of Bryan, Clarence Darrow approached John Neal of

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4576-524: The founder and president of the World Christian Fundamentals Association, was instrumental in calling lawyer and three-time Democratic presidential nominee, former United States Secretary of State , and lifelong Presbyterian William Jennings Bryan to act as that organization's counsel. Bryan had originally been invited by Sue Hicks to become an associate of the prosecution and Bryan had readily accepted, despite

4664-449: The future, as I have in the past, to oppose this law in any way I can. Any other action would be in violation of my ideal of academic freedom—that is, to teach the truth as guaranteed in our constitution, of personal and religious freedom. I think the fine is unjust. Bryan died suddenly five days after the trial's conclusion. The connection between the trial and his death is still debated by historians. Scopes's lawyers appealed, challenging

4752-428: The future. If civilization is to be saved from the wreckage threatened by intelligence not consecrated by love, it must be saved by the moral code of the meek and lowly Nazarene. His teachings, and His teachings alone, can solve the problems that vex the heart and perplex the world. After eight days of trial, it took the jury only nine minutes to deliberate. Scopes was found guilty on July 21 and ordered by Raulston to pay

4840-432: The geology department at Harvard and also a devout Baptist, played Bryan and answered questions as he believed Bryan would. Raulston had adjourned court to the stand on the courthouse lawn, ostensibly because he was "afraid of the building" with so many spectators crammed into the courtroom, but probably because of the stifling heat. An area of questioning involved the book of Genesis, including questions about whether Eve

4928-470: The graduate school of the University of Chicago to finish his studies of geology . Evidence of harassment by the press was mentioned by Frank Thorne: "You may be interested to know that Mr. John T. Scopes of anti-evolution trial fame expects to take up the study of geology as a graduate student of Chicago this fall…Please do what you can to protect him from the importunities of Chicago reporters….He

5016-586: The grand jury to indict Scopes, despite the meager evidence against him and the widely reported stories questioning whether the willing defendant had ever taught evolution in the classroom". Scopes was charged with having taught from the chapter on evolution to a high-school class in violation of the Butler Act and nominally arrested, though he was never actually detained. Paul Patterson, owner of The Baltimore Sun , put up $ 500 in bail for Scopes. The original prosecutors were Herbert E. and Sue K. Hicks , two brothers who were local attorneys and friends of Scopes, but

5104-702: The group gathered in Robinson's Drugstore, "If you can prove that I've taught evolution and that I can qualify as a defendant, then I'll be willing to stand trial". By the time the trial had begun, the defense team included Clarence Darrow , Dudley Field Malone , John Neal , Arthur Garfield Hays and Frank McElwee. The prosecution team, directed by politician Tom Stewart , included brothers Herbert Hicks and Sue K. Hicks , Wallace Haggard, father and son pairings Ben and J. Gordon McKenzie, and William Jennings Bryan and William Jennings Bryan Jr. The elder Bryan had spoken at Scopes' high school commencement, and remembered

5192-430: The high-profile lawyers who had agreed to represent each side. William Jennings Bryan , three-time presidential candidate and former secretary of state , argued for the prosecution, while Clarence Darrow served as the defense attorney for Scopes. The trial publicized the fundamentalist–modernist controversy , which set modernists , who said evolution could be consistent with religion, against fundamentalists , who said

5280-409: The higher court, purely as a matter of proper procedure. We do not think it is fair to the court or counsel on the other side to waste a lot of time when we know this is the inevitable result and probably the best result for the case. After they were brought in, Darrow then addressed the jury: We came down here to offer evidence in this case and the court has held under the law that the evidence we had

5368-413: The imposition of a penalty against a specific individual for a specific wrong. However, impeachment proceedings are generally conducted as legal proceedings, although experts dispute the question of whether they are primarily legal proceedings, or are merely political proceedings dressed in legal formalities and language. Richard Posner , for example, has asserted that it was "the intent of the framers of

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5456-443: The judge had set the fine instead of the jury. The Butler Act remained in effect until May 18, 1967, when it was repealed by the Tennessee legislature. Scopes may have been innocent of the crime with which his name is associated. After the trial, he admitted to reporter William Kinsey Hutchinson "I didn't violate the law," explaining that he had skipped the evolution lesson and that his lawyers had coached his students to testify;

5544-438: The kind of case and the kind of system in which the case is brought – whether, for example, it is an inquisitorial system or a solo In most systems, the governing body responsible for overseeing the courts assigns a unique number/letter combination or similar designation to each case in order to track the various disputes that are or have been before it. The outcome of the case is recorded, and can later be reviewed by obtaining

5632-423: The law is not enforced. If you win, it will be enforced. If I win, the law will be repealed. We're game, aren't we?" The men then summoned 24-year-old John T. Scopes , a Dayton high school science and math teacher. The group asked Scopes to admit to teaching the theory of evolution. Rappleyea pointed out that, while the Butler Act prohibited the teaching of the theory of evolution, the state required teachers to use

5720-484: The legislative duty to cherish science. The court rejected this argument, holding that the determination of what laws cherished science was an issue for the legislature, not the judiciary: The courts cannot sit in judgment on such acts of the Legislature or its agents and determine whether or not the omission or addition of a particular course of study tends to cherish science. Fourth, the defense lawyers argued that

5808-531: The matter of is used (e.g. In re Gault ). The "v" separating the parties is an abbreviation of the Latin versus , but, when spoken in Commonwealth countries , it is normally rendered as " and " or " against " (as in, for example, Charles Dickens ' Jarndyce and Jarndyce ). Where it is considered necessary to protect the anonymity of a natural person , some cases may have one or both parties replaced by

5896-399: The next day, keeping himself from being found in contempt of court . The presiding judge, John T. Raulston, was accused of being biased towards the prosecution and frequently clashed with Darrow. At the outset of the trial, Raulston quoted Genesis and the Butler Act. He also warned the jury not to judge the merit of the law (which would become the focus of the trial) but on the violation of

5984-528: The plaintiff in error is no longer in the service of the state. We see nothing to be gained by prolonging the life of this bizarre case. On the contrary, we think that the peace and dignity of the state, which all criminal prosecutions are brought to redress, will be the better conserved by the entry of a nolle prosequi herein. Such a course is suggested to the Attorney General. Attorney General L. D. Smith immediately announced that he would not seek

6072-409: The press to bring out Darrow's "religious attitude". The questions and Darrow's short answers were published in newspapers the day after the trial ended, with The New York Times characterizing Darrow as answering Bryan's questions "with his agnostic's creed, 'I don't know,' except where he could deny them with his belief in natural, immutable law". After the defense's final attempt to present evidence

6160-448: The prosecution was ultimately led by Tom Stewart , a graduate of Cumberland School of Law , who later became a U.S. Senator. Stewart was aided by Dayton attorney Gordon McKenzie, who supported the anti-evolution bill on religious grounds, and described evolution as "detrimental to our morality" and an assault on "the very citadel of our Christian religion." Hoping to attract major press coverage, George Rappleyea went so far as to write to

6248-405: The seventh day of the trial. It is likely that it would have continued the following morning but for Judge Raulston's announcement that he considered the whole examination irrelevant to the case and his decision that it should be "expunged" from the record. Thus Bryan was denied the chance to cross-examine the defense lawyers in return, although after the trial Bryan would distribute nine questions to

6336-407: The spiritual element needed but some of its unproven hypotheses rob the ship of its compass and thus endanger its cargo. In war, science has proven itself an evil genius; it has made war more terrible than it ever was before. Man used to be content to slaughter his fellowmen on a single plane, the earth's surface. Science has taught him to go down into the water and shoot up from below and to go up into

6424-415: The state. He was under contract with the state to work in an institution of the state. He had no right or privilege to serve the state except upon such terms as the state prescribed. His liberty, his privilege, his immunity to teach and proclaim the theory of evolution, elsewhere than in the service of the state, was in no wise touched by this law. Third, it was argued that the terms of the Butler Act violated

6512-405: The statute to be constitutional, the court set aside the conviction on appeal because of a legal technicality : the jury should have decided the fine, not the judge, since under the state constitution, Tennessee judges could not at that time set fines above $ 50, and the Butler Act specified a minimum fine of $ 100. Justice Green added a totally unexpected recommendation: The court is informed that

6600-549: The statute violated the provisions of the Tennessee Constitution that prohibited the establishment of a state religion. The Religious Preference provisions of the Tennessee Constitution (Section   3 of Article   I) stated, "no preference shall ever be given, by law, to any religious establishment or mode of worship". Writing for the court two sittings and one year after receiving the appeal, Chief Justice Grafton Green rejected this argument, holding that

6688-488: The theory of evolution in defiance of the Butler Act. On April 5, 1925, George Rappleyea , local manager for the Cumberland Coal and Iron Company, arranged a meeting with county superintendent of schools Walter White and local attorney Sue K. Hicks at Robinson's Drug Store, convincing them that the controversy of such a trial would give Dayton much needed publicity. According to Robinson, Rappleyea said "As it is,

6776-466: The trial. William Jennings Bryan's summation of the Scopes trial, which was distributed to reporters but not read in court, read: Science is a magnificent force, but it is not a teacher of morals. It can perfect machinery, but it adds no moral restraints to protect society from the misuse of the machine. It can also build gigantic intellectual ships, but it constructs no moral rudders for the control of storm-tossed human vessel. It not only fails to supply

6864-555: The word of God as revealed in the Bible took priority over all human knowledge. The case was thus seen both as a theological contest and as a trial on whether evolution should be taught in schools. State Representative John Washington Butler , a Tennessee farmer and head of the World Christian Fundamentals Association , lobbied state legislatures to pass anti- evolution laws. He succeeded when

6952-543: Was "The reason I am answering is not for the benefit of the superior court. It is to keep these gentlemen from saying I was afraid to meet them and let them question me, and I want the Christian world to know that any atheist, agnostic, unbeliever, can question me anytime as to my belief in God, and I will answer him." Stewart objected for the prosecution, demanding to know the legal purpose of Darrow's questioning. Bryan, gauging

7040-566: Was "barred" from career opportunities in Tennessee, forcing him and his wife to relocate to his childhood home in Kentucky in about 1930. Having failed in education, Scopes attempted to build a political career and he began an unsuccessful bid as a candidate of the Socialist Party for the U.S. House of Representatives for Kentucky's only at-large congressional campaign , during 1932.  Eventually Scopes worked as an oil expert for

7128-415: Was Darrow's law partner, and F. B. McElwee. The defense was also assisted by librarian and Biblical authority Charles Francis Potter, who was a modernist Unitarian preacher. The prosecution team was led by Tom Stewart, district attorney for the 18th Circuit (and future United States Senator ), and included, in addition to Herbert and Sue Hicks, Ben B. McKenzie and William Jennings Bryan. The trial

7216-526: Was a teacher in Dayton, Tennessee , who was charged on May 5, 1925, with violating Tennessee's Butler Act , which prohibited the teaching of human evolution in Tennessee schools. He was tried in a case known as the Scopes Trial , and was found guilty and fined $ 100 (equivalent to $ 1,737 in 2023). Scopes was born in 1900 to Thomas Scopes and Mary Alva Brown, who lived on a farm in Paducah, Kentucky . John

7304-466: Was actually created from Adam's rib, where Cain got his wife, and how many people lived in Ancient Egypt . Darrow used these examples to suggest that the stories of the Bible could not be scientific and should not be used in teaching science, telling Bryan, "You insult every man of science and learning in the world because he does not believe in your fool religion." Bryan's declaration in response

7392-471: Was covered by journalists from the South and around the world, including H. L. Mencken for The Baltimore Sun , which was also paying part of the defense's expenses. It was Mencken who provided the trial with its most colorful labels such as the "Monkey Trial" of "the infidel Scopes". It was also the first United States trial to be broadcast on national radio . The ACLU had originally intended to oppose

7480-512: Was deliberately staged in order to attract publicity to the small town of Dayton, Tennessee , where it was held. Scopes was unsure whether he had ever actually taught evolution, but he incriminated himself deliberately so the case could have a defendant. Scopes was found guilty and was fined $ 100 (equivalent to $ 1,700 in 2023), but the verdict was overturned on a technicality. The trial served its purpose of drawing intense national publicity, as national reporters flocked to Dayton to cover

7568-422: Was denied, Darrow asked the judge to bring in the jury only to have them come to a guilty verdict: We claim that the defendant is not guilty, but as the court has excluded any testimony, except as to the one issue as to whether he taught that man descended from a lower order of animals, and we cannot contradict that testimony, there is no logical thing to come except that the jury find a verdict that we may carry to

7656-466: Was motivated to join the defense after he "realized there was no limit to the mischief that might be accomplished unless the country was aroused to the evil at hand". After many changes back and forth, the defense team consisted of Darrow, ACLU attorney Arthur Garfield Hays , Dudley Field Malone , an international divorce lawyer who had worked at the State Department , W. O. Thompson, who

7744-470: Was their fifth child and only son. The family relocated to Danville, Illinois when he was a teenager. In 1917, he relocated to Salem, Illinois , where he was a member of the class of 1919 at Salem Community High School. He attended the University of Illinois briefly, then quit for health reasons. He earned a degree at the University of Kentucky in 1924, with a major in law and a minor in geology. Scopes relocated to Dayton, Tennessee where he became

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