Judge Orders Removal of Evolution Disclaimers

A federal judge in Georgia has declared that a district’s practice of labeling evolution “a theory, not a fact” on stickers placed on science textbooks amounts to an unconstitutional endorsement of religion.

U.S. District Judge Clarence Cooper last week ordered officials in the Cobb County school system to remove the stickers immediately. They have been affixed to texts for middle and high school biology classes.

The case has been closely watched, in part because similar legal disputes have arisen recently in at least two other school districts, including one in Dover, Pa., where a group of teachers has objected to a proposal that they introduce students to the concept of “intelligent design.” That belief holds that an unspecified creator, or designer, played a role in the development of natural...