March 27, 2023
Clarence Darrow’s “unyielding commitment to civil liberties and intellectual freedoms” takes center stage in this brisk account of the 1925 Scopes “Monkey” Trial. Fox News analyst Jarrett (The Russia Hoax) notes that after Tennessee enacted a bill banning the teaching of evolution in public schools, the ACLU looked for a state educator willing to test the law in court. With the encouragement of a local businessman who wanted to bring publicity to Dayton, Tenn., science teacher John Scopes agreed to incriminate himself, setting the stage for a legal clash between Darrow and three-time presidential candidate William Jennings Bryant. Arguing that “any discourse over evolution was protected speech,” Darrow struggled to make headway against a hostile judge and a prosecutor who claimed that the teaching of natural selection necessarily “denie the Story of the Divine Creation of man as taught in the Bible.” Though Scopes lost the case and was ordered to pay a $100 fine, the ruling was overturned on a technicality and Darrow “ultimately prevailed in his efforts to preserve intellectual freedom and the advancement of science,” according to Jarrett. Though Jarrett sticks to familiar ground, it’s a colorful and dramatic retelling. Those new to the case will be especially rewarded by this solid look back at one of the most consequential free speech debates in American history.
June 1, 2023
Fox News commentator Jarrett's account of the iconic 1925 Scopes Monkey Trial turns out to be a satisfying traditional history that celebrates the good guys. Although widely derided, the flurry of post-World War I state laws forbidding public schools from teaching evolution enjoyed a great deal of popular support. Concerned about the effect on academic freedom, the American Civil Liberties Union ran a news release seeking a volunteer to test the newly enacted Tennessee law. The trial took place in the small town of Dayton only because local boosters believed it "would put [the town] on the map." They persuaded high school teacher John Scopes to offer himself as defendant. News of the case made headlines, and a mass of journalists descended on the city along with celebrities, including William Jennings Bryan and legendary lawyer Clarence Darrow. With a churchgoing jury and biased judge who began the proceedings by declaiming the first chapter of Genesis, the outcome was never in doubt, but Jarrett remains firmly for the defense, praising Darrow's and colleagues' arguments in favor of First Amendment freedoms and opposing religious bigotry and government interference in education. To Darrow's frustration, the judge ruled that the trial was solely to determine whether Scopes broke the law, so he refused to allow the defense to call scientists and theologians to inform the jury that evolution was not equivalent to atheism. After several frustrating days, Darrow grew discouraged, and many reporters left before he hit the jackpot cross-examining Bryan, who had volunteered to prove the literal truth of everything in the Bible and did a terrible job. Despite an upbeat conclusion, Jarrett admits that there is less in Darrow's triumph than meets the eye. Disbelief in evolution remains common, so school boards (and publishers anxious to sell them science textbooks) treat the subject with kid gloves. An instructive history with a disturbing coda: If you want to learn about evolution, go to college.
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