On May 5th, 1925, science teacher John Scopes was arrested for violating Tennessee’s newly passed Butler Act, making the teaching of Darwin’s Theory of Evolution a criminal act. The trial, known as the Scopes Monkey Trial, gained worldwide attention as all eyes turned to a small courthouse in Dayton, TN. Two legal giants, former three time presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan and famed defense attorney Clarence Darrow, faced off at trial. At the end, Scopes was convicted and sentenced to a fine of $100 in 1925 dollars. And the rest is history.

Subsequent cases about this topic occurred with one reaching the US Supreme Court in 1987 in Edwards v. Aguillard. In this case, Louisiana tried again to outlaw Darwin with different language, asking for balance between Evolution and Creationism. Evolution won again. However, the precedent was set that State Governments can manipulate education policy if they disagree with the things taught.

Fast forward to 2021 here in Arizona. We now have SB1532 which, according to the Arizona Republic, “Arizona teachers could face a $5,000 penalty if they allow classroom discussions on controversial topics such as racism or fail to give equal weight to divisive topics, under provisions of a last-minute amendment that flew through the Arizona House of Representatives on Wednesday.”