UA Law School Students to Debate Intelligent Design

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.