Famous Trials: The Scopes Trial, Bible vs Evolution

Tuesday, March 18, 2025
2:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Location: Pioneer Bank, 1450 Adams St., Mankato

In March of 1925, the Tennessee Legislature banned the teaching of evolution in Tennessee public schools. A small town in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains would be the epicenter of a legal and cultural battle that summer. John Scopes, a substitute teacher and football coach, was charged with unlawfully teaching evolution to his students even though the school issued biology textbook had a chapter on evolution. William Jennings Bryan, three time presidential candidate would prosecute John Scopes and defend the inerrancy of the Bible. The famed defense attorney Clarence Darrow defended Scopes and his First Amendment right to freedom of thought and speech. The trial would culminate in one of the greatest  cross examinations in American Legal history.

Presenter(s): James Fleming practiced law in Minnesota for 35 years before his recent retirement, 22 of those years as a public defender. He served as the chief public defender for the 15 counties of the Fifth Judicial District in southwest Minnesota, based in Mankato, and later for the Second Judicial District (Ramsey County).
Sponsor: Larry Nicol