On December 20, 2005, the decision (139-page PDF) in Kitzmiller v. Dover was issued, and the plaintiffs triumphed. In his 139-page decision, Judge John E. Jones III concluded, "The proper application of both the endorsement and Lemon tests to the facts of this case makes it abundantly clear that the Board's ID Policy violates the Establishment Clause. In making this determination, we have addressed the seminal question of whether ID is science. We have concluded that it is not, and moreover that ID cannot uncouple itself from its creationist, and thus religious, antecedents."
The Associated Press reports [Link broken] (December 20, 2005) that Pepper Hamilton's Eric Rothschild, the lead attorney for the families who challenged the Dover Area School Board's "intelligent design" policy, described the ruling as "a real vindication for the parents who had the courage to stand up and say there was something wrong in their school district." NCSE agrees, and congratulates the plaintiffs and their lawyers from Pepper Hamilton, the ACLU of Pennsylvania, and Americans United for Separation of Church and State, for their well-deserved victory. Expect further details in the next few days.