FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Consider this
hypothetical situation: A renowned biologist at the Arklatex School for
Mathematics and Science and a proponent of Intelligent Design files a law suit against
his school board alleging that his First Amendment right was violated by the
school board’s prohibition of the teaching of Intelligent Design.
University of Arkansas School of Law
students have to argue at 3:30 p.m. on Friday, March 31, whether allowing or
prohibiting instruction on Intelligent Design in public schools violates the
Establishment Clause of the First Amendment; and second, whether the First
Amendment protects a public school teacher’s discussion on the topic of
Intelligent Design.
This mock argument before the U.S.
Supreme Court - the Benjamin J. Altheimer Moot Court Competition - will be held
at the law school courtroom on the corner of Maple Street and Garland Avenue, with
a reception following at 5:30 p.m.
The competition will be scored by Judge
Wendell Griffen of the Arkansas Court of Appeals, Judge Leon Holmes of the
Eastern District of Arkansas and Chief Judge John Pittman of the Arkansas Court
of Appeals. All judges will be available after the competition to answer
questions and for photo opportunities.
Second-year law students Jamie Goss
Dempsey and Eugene Krupitsky, both of Little Rock, will represent the proponent
of Intelligent Design, whereas Hadley Carson of Rogers, Ark., and Stuart
Hindmarsh of Fort Smith, Ark., will argue for the school board.
These students may cite some of the most
important cases of the 20th century involving explanations for the origin of
life, including the “Scopes Monkey Trial” and the 1968 case Epperson v.
Arkansas, in which the Supreme Court ruled that an Arkansas law
forbidding the teaching of evolution in public schools violated the First Amendment.
The Benjamin J. Altheimer Moot Court
Competition is held annually by the University of Arkansas School of Law Board
of Advocates, a student-run organization overseeing all law school competitions.
The competition is made possible through an endowment from the Benjamin J.
Altheimer Trust.
Ben J. Altheimer, a successful attorney
and devoted friend to higher education, was born in Pine Bluff, Ark., in 1878.
He practiced law in Pine Bluff and moved to Chicago in 1910, where he
established one of the most prestigious law firms in the city. He frequently
returned to Arkansas to visit and involve himself in the farming operation near
Altheimer. The town was named for his father and uncle, who donated land to the
railroad for a depot.