ericmurphy
Posts: 2460
Joined: Oct. 2005
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| Quote (The Ghost of Paley @ Dec. 22 2005,13:57) | | Good to hear. Hey Murphy, I haven't forgotten about you. What's your legal opinion on the upcoming Kansas trial? And if the Dover case does get appealed, how do you think the Supremes will rule (other than with their usual iron fist, of course). I think the Supreme Court is up for grabs myself... |
I have to say I haven't followed the Kansas situation as close as the Pennsylvania case, but given the losing record creationists have amassed so far, I'm guessing it won't go so well for them this time, either. But as with any lawsuit, before the trial begins, it's pretty much a 50-50 proposition. Judges are, after all, humans, and therefore are hardly inerrant.
It doesn't look like the Dover case will be appealed, given the stunning defeat handed to the defendants coupled with the changes in the Dover school board, but if it goes to the Third Circuit, it's hard to imagine how the district court decision would be overturned. Generally appellate courts defer to the trial courts on issues of fact and determinations of witness credibility, which means normally a case would be overturned on questions of law. Given judge Jones's laborious application of the tests set forth in Lemon, McLean, and Edwards, among others, there's not much room for maneuver for an appellate court. If the case did make it to the Supreme Court, which seems even more doubtful, I'd expect a 7-2 or 6-3 decision in favor of Plaintiffs, depending on the makeup of the court at the time.
(But remember, I'm not an attorney.)
And in the meantime...how are we doing with that quintessence? :-)
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2006 MVD award for most dogged defense of scientific sanity
"Atheism is a religion the same way NOT collecting stamps is a hobby." —Scott Adams
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