Home Supreme Court Decisions Major Decisions: Epperson v Arkansas

Major Decisions: Epperson v Arkansas

Major Decisions: Epperson v Arkansas

Epperson v Arkansas was a significant United States Supreme Court case that was decided in 1968. The case centered around a state law in Arkansas that prohibited the teaching of evolution in public schools. The plaintiff, Susan Epperson, was a high school biology teacher who challenged the law on the grounds of its violation of the First Amendment.

The Supreme Court’s decision was a pivotal moment in the fight for academic freedom and the separation of church and state in American education. In the 7-2 ruling, the Supreme Court found that the Arkansas law was an unconstitutional infringement on academic freedom and violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.

The court held that the law was an attempt to promote a particular religious view and impose it on students, which breached the principle of religious neutrality and the government’s obligation to remain neutral in religious matters.

The Epperson v. Arkansas decision was groundbreaking for many reasons. It marked the first time that a Supreme Court ruling explicitly struck down a state law that prohibited the teaching of evolution in public schools. This decision paved the way for later Supreme Court cases, such as Edwards v. Aguillard and Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School, that further reinforced the importance of teaching evolution in public schools as a valid and vital scientific concept.

Moreover, Epperson v. Arkansas also represented a crucial victory for advocates of academic freedom and progressivism in education. The Supreme Court declared that public schools had a responsibility to teach scientific theories and concepts free from religious bias or influence. This decision, therefore, represented a significant step towards the normalization of scientific inquiry and scientific literacy in American education.

In summary, Epperson v. Arkansas was a landmark decision that marked a turning point in the fight for academic freedom and religious neutrality in American public education. The Supreme Court’s ruling affirmed the importance of science and reason in education and set a precedent that continues to influence American public education today.


The Epperson v. Arkansas trial proved to be among the landmark Supreme Court decisions that would have certain questions or considerations based on the application of the United States Constitution.

The Epperson v. Arkansas case invokes the occurrences that happened nearly forty years earlier in Tennessee with theinfamous Scopes Trial of 1927. Even though Tennessee is one of the most famous states in which the teaching of evolution in schools was prohibited, it was not the only State to apply similar provisions at the State level.

The Scopes trial would be one of the landmarks Supreme Court Decisions that would prove to be repeated in a similar fashion once again with the Epperson v. Arkansas trial. The case revolved around an Arkansas State provision that prohibited the teaching of human evolution in schools. This statute, if violated, could levy hefty fines and dismissal from a teaching position under Arkansas laws. The provision would be challenged by a tenth-grade biology teacher, Susan Epperson.

Initially, the lower courts would rule in her favor, but an appeal at the Arkansas Supreme Court would overturn the decision, citing almost no legislation for the basis of its decision. Epperson would then also appeal and the case would reach theSupreme Court. Chief Justice Warren would oversee the proceedings and eventually render a decision in favor of Epperson. The Supreme Court decision would have ramifications at the Constitutional level on the basis that Arkansas could not implement statutes or laws to remove a segment or part of a curriculum on the basis that it conflicts with certain religious beliefs.

This practice is in violation of the First Amendment of the United States Constitution, and therefore, unconstitutional. More specifically, it violated the Establishment The clause of the First Amendment, which states, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.” In seeking to protect certain religious views that were in conflict with the teaching of evolution, the Arkansas State laws would effectively be establishing a preference or inclination toward a particular religious sect.

The Supreme Court decision also regarded that such laws would also infringe on the Fourteenth Amendment, which protects the citizens’ from interference imposed by the State legislation or laws with their rights under the First Amendment. Though the main issue at hand was the violation of the First Amendment, the violation of the Fourteenth Amendment was also applied because the State laws imposed a restriction upon the freedom of speech and freedom of religion.

Even though the Court would agree that the issue of the school curriculum is to be determined and established by local officials and state governments, it could not impose teachings in which particular favoritism or inclination toward a religious faction is implemented, either directly or indirectly. Therefore, the Supreme The court decision of Epperson v. Arkansas would not allow the prevention of teaching evolution in schools.

Even though certain states would integrate biblical creation along with evolution as a way to circumvent the landmark Supreme Court decisions, this would only lead to further court decisions in which Epperson v. Arkansas would be used as precedent in the rulings.