PBS NOVA's TV show "Judgment Day"

I have posted literally dozens of articles about the Kitzmiller case and Judge Jones (see the sidebar) and of course space does not permit me to review them all here. Nothing in the TV program affects any of my previous comments about Jones and the decision. However, I will make a few comments here about the program.

It was obvious that Darwinism was not going to be proven in a two-hour TV program. IMO the program should have concentrated on the legal issues rather than the scientific issues.

In some ways, the show was better balanced than I had hoped. I didn't see any quote mining and the program was candid in presenting the opposing views. The show of course did not go into a lot of criticisms of Judge Jones and the decision.

Actually, I think that the fundies came across quite well in the program. Here is this theory that is riddled with flaws and gaps and the judge said that the Dover teachers could not be required to criticize it at all for any reason, not even in a one-minute statement. The Kitzmiller opinion said,
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To preserve the separation of church and state mandated by the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, and Art. I, § 3 of the Pennsylvania Constitution, we will enter an order permanently enjoining Defendants from maintaining the ID Policy in any school within the Dover Area School District, from requiring teachers to denigrate or disparage the scientific theory of evolution, and from requiring teachers to refer to a religious, alternative theory known as ID. (emphasis added)

However, the prohibition of "requiring teachers to denigrate or disparage the scientific theory of evolution" was not, for some unknown reason, included in the final order.

So here Judge Jones was also passing judgment on non-ID criticisms of evolution that he had not even reviewed.

Here are some specific comments about the program:

(1) My favorite part was where defendant Bill Buckingham called Judge Jones a "jackass."

(2) Of course, there was the "contrived dualism" where there is assumed to be only two possibilities, Darwinism and ID.

(3) Judge Jones broke his pledge to not publicly comment specifically about the case. I thought that his role in the program would be just to read excerpts from his written opinion.

(4) The TV show -- to its credit -- noted that the school board election was close, but did not note that the voter concern about the cost of the trial was considered to be a significant factor.

(5) It was not noted that the ruling on the scientific merits of ID was not necessary. Indeed, several articles in scholarly law journals criticized Jones for ruling on the scientific merits of ID.

(6) The show should not have criticized Michael Behe and others for declining to be interviewed. I would also criticize the movie "Expelled" for criticizing complaints from interviewees about not being informed about the purpose of the movie.

(7) The movie gave the Discovery Institute some free publicity, including publicity for the DI's book about the case, "Traipsing into Evolution"

(8) In the TV program, Judge Jones conceded that his Kitzmiller decision is not going to end the controversy. In his Kitzmiller opinion, he wrote, "Finally, we will offer our conclusion on whether ID is science not just because it is essential to our holding that an Establishment Clause violation has occurred in this case, but also in the hope that it may prevent the obvious waste of judicial and other resources which would be occasioned by a subsequent trial involving the precise question which is before us."

I originally thought that Judge Jones had no choice but to rule against the defendants but I now feel that a ruling in favor of the defendants could have been justified under the "endorsement test." Details are in this long comment on the Reasonable Kansans blog.
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