Hutton Honors College

Making the Decision in a Tough Case:
Judicial Independence in a Democracy

Discussion Supper with U.S. District Court Judge John E. Jones, III

Friday, Dec. 4, 2009 * 6-7:30 p.m. * Harlos House (1331 E. Tenth St.) * SIGN-UP REQUIRED

Appointed by President George W. Bush to a Pennsylvania federal district court in 2002, Judge John E. Jones, III, made national headlines in 2005 with his ruling in the landmark case Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District, in which he held that mandating the teaching of intelligent design in public school science classes violated the First Amendment. The decision was strongly criticized by some, including some who had supported his nomination to the bench, and strongly praised by others. His response was that his duty was to serve the Constitution over other interests.

Judge Jones will be on campus to deliver a Themester lecture for the College of Arts and Sciences, "Judicial Independence and the Pennsylvania Case of Intelligent Design in the Public Schools," at 4 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 4, in the Moot Court Room of the Maurer School of Law. His public event is free and open to the public. The supper is co-sponsored by the Wells Scholars Program.

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