Epperson v. Arkansas - Significance, Further Readings

appellant chief law marshall

Appellant

Susan Epperson

Appellee

State of Arkansas

Appellant's Claim

Arkansas law stating one can not teach evolution is unconstitutional.

Chief Lawyer for Appellant

Eugene R. Warren

Chief Lawyer for Appellee

Don Langston, Assistant Attorney General of Arkansas

Justices for the Court

Hugo Lafayette Black, William J. Brennan, Jr., William O. Douglas, Abe Fortas (writing for the Court), John Marshall Harlan II, Thurgood Marshall, Potter Stewart, Earl Warren

Justices Dissenting

None

Place

Washington, D.C.

Date of Decision

12 November 1968

Decision

The law against the teaching of evolution is unconstitutional.

Related Cases

Watson v. Jones, 13 Wall. 679 (1872).
Everson v. Board of Education, 330 U.S. 1 (1947).
Engel v. Vitale, 370 U.S. 421 (1962).
Abington School District v. Schempp, 374 U.S. 203 (1963).

Additional Topics

Epperson v. Arkansas - Significance

The decision demanded that governments refuse to favor any particular religion or religious theory over another. A young schoolteacher named Susan Epperson found herself caught in a dilemma at the beginning of the 1965 school year. Little did she know at that time that her dilemma would end up being solved by the justices of the U.S. Supreme Court in the landmark case Epperson v. Arkansas. Reminis…

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