Monday, November 07, 2005
Who Won in Dover?
The decision by Judge Jones won't be announced for some weeks -- perhaps not until around the first of the year, but you can already get a great sense of the feeling on the ground by comparing these two posts: one from the ACLU of Pennsylvania, and the other from the Discovery Institute.
Sara Mullen, associate director of the ACLU of Pennsylvania writes on the Speaking Freely blog, "I laughed, I cried; It was better than Cats":
There's a decidedly different tone in a post by Rob Crowther on the Discovery Institute's Evolution News and Views blog, and it's clear the boys from Discovery won't be partying with anyone from the Thomas More Law Center anytime soon:
The coming together of the plaintiffs and their legal team stands in stark contrast to the falling out between Discovery and Thomas More. To be sure, it tells us nothing about how Judge Jones will actually rule, but it speaks volumes about how those on the ground in Harrisburg see the trial. No matter how they spin it, the intelligent design side comes out of Dover deeply divided. Students, parents, scientists, and educators and their champions in the ACLU and Americans United, on the other hand, are stronger than before.
Sara Mullen, associate director of the ACLU of Pennsylvania writes on the Speaking Freely blog, "I laughed, I cried; It was better than Cats":
As our clients filed into the courtroom and greeted their lawyers, it was clear that a strong bond had developed between the two as well. Repeatedly, plaintiffs talked about how "brilliant" the attorneys were, and how grateful they were to them. The legal team expressed admiration for the courage of our clients, and asked them to autograph copies of the complaint. At the end of the day, the plaintiffs' lawyers and their clients had plans to gather together to decompress from the trial and undoubtedly swap stories.
There's a decidedly different tone in a post by Rob Crowther on the Discovery Institute's Evolution News and Views blog, and it's clear the boys from Discovery won't be partying with anyone from the Thomas More Law Center anytime soon:
Mr. Thompson blames Discovery Institute for the non-participation of Discovery Institute Fellows Stephen Meyer, William Dembski, and John Angus Campbell as expert witnesses on behalf of the Dover board. However, the non-participation of these scholars was due to Thomas More, which discharged them.
The coming together of the plaintiffs and their legal team stands in stark contrast to the falling out between Discovery and Thomas More. To be sure, it tells us nothing about how Judge Jones will actually rule, but it speaks volumes about how those on the ground in Harrisburg see the trial. No matter how they spin it, the intelligent design side comes out of Dover deeply divided. Students, parents, scientists, and educators and their champions in the ACLU and Americans United, on the other hand, are stronger than before.
