Epperson v. Arkansas (1968)

Epperson v. Arkansas, 393 U.S. 97 (1968) was a landmark case argued on October 16, 1968, challenging a law prohibiting the teaching of evolution on the books in Arkansas since 1928. The law stipulated that no textbook could be used to teach "that mankind ascended or descended from a lower order of animals."

The State Chancery Court held that the original law violated free speech as outlined in the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution. The Arkansas Supreme Court reversed the decision of the lower court, releasing a very brief opinion noting that it was "within the State's power to specify the public school curriculum."

The case was appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. The Supreme Court on November 12, 1968, concluded that the law violated the establishment clause of the Constitution, holding that the law was "not a manifestation of religious neutrality."

The appellant Susan Epperson was a public school teacher.

References

• Epperson v. Arkansas, 393 U.S. 97 (1968).