Simone Lawson
The Scopes Monkey Trial of 1925 was a highly publicized legal case in which John Thomas Scopes, a high school teacher, was accused of violating the Butler Act, a Tennessee state law prohibiting the teaching of human evolution in public schools. The trial was deliberately staged to attract publicity to Dayton, Tennessee, where it was held. Scopes was defended by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which sought to challenge the constitutionality of the Butler Act. The trial brought the scientific evidence for evolution into the public sphere and sparked a national debate over the validity of evolution. Scopes was found guilty and fined $100, but the verdict was overturned on appeal due to a technicality in the issuance of the fine. The Butler Act remained in effect until its repeal in 1967.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Date of trial | July 10–21, 1925 |
| Location | Dayton, Tennessee, U.S. |
| Defendant | John T. Scopes |
| Occupation | High school teacher |
| Violation | Teaching evolution in school |
| Law violated | Butler Act |
| Fine | $100 |
| Verdict | Guilty |
| Appeal verdict | Acquitted on a technicality |
| Constitutional right violated | Free speech |
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What You'll Learn
Violation of free speech
The Scopes Trial, also known as the "Monkey Trial", was a highly publicized legal case in 1925. It involved a Dayton, Tennessee high-school teacher, John T. Scopes, who was accused of violating state law by teaching Charles Darwin's theory of evolution.
The trial began on July 10, 1925, and lasted eight days, ending on July 21. The Butler Act, passed in March 1925, was the Tennessee state law that Scopes was accused of violating. This law made it unlawful for any teacher in a state-funded school to teach any theory that denied the divine creation of man as taught in the Bible and instead taught that man descended from a lower order of animals.
The trial was deliberately staged to attract publicity to the small town of Dayton, Tennessee. John T. Scopes was unsure if he had taught evolution but deliberately incriminated himself to challenge the constitutionality of the Butler Act. He was represented by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which had offered to defend any teacher accused of violating the Act.
During the trial, the defense argued that the Butler Act violated Scopes' constitutional right to free speech by prohibiting him from teaching evolution. They claimed that the Act was "as brazen and as bold an attempt to destroy learning as was ever made in the Middle Ages" and predicted a progression towards banning books and censoring newspapers. However, the court rejected this argument, stating that the state, as Scopes' employer, had the right to regulate his speech.
The jury found Scopes guilty after only nine minutes of deliberation and he was fined $100. This fine was later overturned on appeal due to a technicality, as the judge had set the fine instead of the jury. While the Tennessee Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the Butler Act, it did not result in a retrial for Scopes, who had given up teaching by then. The Butler Act remained in effect until its repeal in 1967.
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Violation of academic freedom
The Scopes trial, or the ""Monkey Trial""", was a highly publicized legal case in 1925 that brought the issue of academic freedom to the forefront. John Thomas Scopes, a high school teacher in Dayton, Tennessee, stood accused of violating the Butler Act, a state law that prohibited the teaching of human evolution in public schools.
The trial was deliberately staged to attract publicity to Dayton, and Scopes himself was unsure if he had taught evolution. However, he incriminated himself to provide a defendant for the case, which was supported by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). They sought to challenge the constitutionality of the Butler Act, arguing that it violated the freedom of speech and religious freedom by prohibiting the teaching of evolution.
During the trial, Judge John T. Raulston ruled that the validity of evolutionary theory and the constitutionality of the law were not relevant, focusing solely on whether Scopes had taught evolution. Expert testimony from scientists was deemed inadmissible, and the trial proceeded with a narrow scope. Despite Scopes' coaching his students to testify against him, the jury found him guilty in just nine minutes, and he was fined $100.
The case was appealed, and while the Tennessee Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the Butler Act, it acquitted Scopes on a technicality, as the judge had imposed the fine instead of the jury. This technicality, however, did not change the broader outcome: the Butler Act remained in effect until its repeal in 1967, and Tennessee prevented the teaching of evolution in classrooms until then. The trial sparked a national debate about the veracity of evolution, and similar laws in other states were eventually abandoned or struck down as unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court.
The Scopes trial highlighted a conflict between fundamentalist literal belief and liberal interpretation of scriptures. It also brought attention to the question of who has the right to determine what is taught in schools and the boundaries of academic freedom. While the immediate legal outcome favored the prosecution, the broader impact of the trial contributed to a shift away from enforcing such restrictions on academic freedom.
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Inadmissible evidence
The Scopes Monkey Trial, which took place from July 10 to July 21, 1925, in Dayton, Tennessee, saw high school teacher John T. Scopes accused of violating the Butler Act, a Tennessee state law prohibiting the teaching of human evolution in public schools.
The trial was deliberately staged to attract publicity to the small town of Dayton, and Scopes was unsure if he had ever actually taught evolution. He deliberately incriminated himself so that the case could have a defendant, and he was represented by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which sought to challenge the constitutionality of the Butler Act.
During the trial, the defence called a zoologist from Johns Hopkins University as a witness. The prosecution objected, arguing that the evidence was inadmissible and irrelevant, as the jury did not need to understand evolutionary theory to decide whether Scopes had violated the law by teaching it.
The presiding judge, John T. Raulston, ruled out any test of the law's constitutionality or argument on the validity of evolutionary theory, stating that Scopes, not the Butler Act, was on trial. Raulston determined that expert testimony from scientists would be inadmissible.
Despite the inadmissibility of certain evidence, Scopes was found guilty and fined $100 (equivalent to $1,793 in 2024). However, the verdict was overturned on appeal due to a technicality in the issuance of the fine, with the judge, rather than the jury, setting the amount. The Butler Act was upheld as constitutional by the Tennessee Supreme Court, but Scopes's conviction was overturned.
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Unjust statute
The Scopes trial, or Scopes Monkey Trial, was an American legal case from July 10 to July 21, 1925, in which John T. Scopes, a high school teacher, was accused of violating the Butler Act, a Tennessee state law that prohibited the teaching of human evolution in public schools.
The trial was deliberately staged to attract publicity to the small town of Dayton, Tennessee, where it was held. John Scopes was unsure if he had taught evolution but deliberately incriminated himself so the case could have a defendant. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) represented Scopes and had offered to defend anyone accused of violating the Butler Act, challenging the constitutionality of the law.
The trial's climax came on July 20 when Darrow, Scopes' lawyer, called on Bryan, the prosecution counsel, to testify as an expert witness on the Bible. The next day, Scopes was found guilty and fined $100, but the verdict was overturned on a technicality as the judge imposed the fine before Scopes was given an opportunity to speak.
Scopes spoke for the first and only time in court, stating:
> Your honor, I feel that I have been convicted of violating an unjust statute. I will continue in the future, as I have in the past, to oppose this law in any way I can. Any other action would be in violation of my ideal of academic freedom—that is, to teach the truth as guaranteed in our constitution, of personal and religious freedom. I think the fine is unjust.
The Butler Act remained in effect until it was repealed in 1967. The trial brought scientific evidence for evolution into the public sphere and sparked a national debate over the veracity of evolution that continues today.
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Excessive fine
The Scopes trial, or the "Monkey Trial", was an American legal case from July 10 to July 21, 1925, in which John T. Scopes, a high school teacher, was accused of violating the Butler Act. This was a Tennessee state law that outlawed the teaching of human evolution in public schools. Scopes was fined $100 (equivalent to $1,800 in 2024) for violating the Act. However, the verdict was overturned on a technicality—specifically, that the judge had imposed the fine, instead of the jury.
The concept of "excessive fines" is protected against by the Eighth Amendment, which was enacted as part of the Bill of Rights in 1791. The Excessive Fines Clause applies to forfeitures of property, in addition to monetary payments. The Supreme Court can only interfere with state legislation if fines are grossly excessive. The Court has held that, when calculating fines, courts must consider the defendant's financial resources and the burden of the fine to the defendant. The principle of proportionality is key to determining whether a fine is excessive. For example, in United States v. Bajakajian, the Supreme Court ruled that taking $357,144 from a defendant for failing to report taking more than $10,000 out of the country would be "grossly disproportional to the gravity of his offense".
In the years since, the Supreme Court hasn't clarified what counts as "excessive", and state and federal courts have reached differing conclusions. For example, in 2022, the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled against Jim Ficken, who was fined nearly $30,000 by the city of Dunedin, Florida, for letting his grass grow too long. On the other hand, the Indiana Supreme Court ruled in favor of Tyson Timbs in 2021, stating that forfeiting his $42,000 Land Rover over a minor drug crime would violate the Eighth Amendment, as it was "grossly disproportional".
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Frequently asked questions
The State of Tennessee v. John Thomas Scopes, commonly known as the Scopes Monkey Trial, was an American legal case from July 10 to July 21, 1925, in which a high school teacher, John T. Scopes, was accused of violating the Butler Act, a Tennessee state law that outlawed the teaching of human evolution in public schools.
Scopes' lawyers argued that the statute violated his constitutional right to free speech. They also tried to quash the indictment on the grounds that the law violated the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which states that no one may be deprived of rights without due process of law, and the freedom of religion clause of the First Amendment.
Scopes was found guilty and was fined $100 (equivalent to $1,800 in 2024). However, the verdict was overturned on appeal due to a technicality in the issuance of the fine. While the Tennessee Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the Butler Act, it acquitted Scopes as the judge had set the fine instead of the jury.
