SCOPES FOUND GUILTY BY JURY IN ANTI-EVOLUTION TRIAL
Dayton, Tennessee (JFK+50) At 11:29 in the morning of July 21, 1925, "a verdict of guilty was returned in the (John T.) Scopes (anti-evolution) case" at the Rhea County Court House here in Dayton.
According to a front-page report in The Times Recorder, Judge John T. Raulston summoned Mr. Scopes to the bar and informed him of the jury's verdict.
The judge also "read a copy of the statute to him." Judge Raulston then set the young teacher's fine at $100.
When asked if he had anything to say, Mr. Scopes said...
"I have been convicted of violating an unjust statute."
An appeal will be filed by the defense with the Supreme Court meeting in Knoxville.
JFK+50 NOTE
In 1927, Tennessee's Supreme Court overturned Scopes' conviction on a technicality. Judge Raulston had improperly imposed a $100 fine. According to the Tennessee Constitution any fine over $50 had to be imposed by a jury. The state's AG recommending dismissing the case & Scopes never paid the fine. The Butler Act (TN's anti-evolution law) remained on the books of the state but was never again enforced.
In 1968, the USSC ruled bans on teaching evolution to be unconstitutional.
SOURCE
"Scopes Found Guilty," The Times Recorder, Americus, Georgia, July 21, 1925, Chronicling America, Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/
