TUCSON, ARIZONA, SUNE 
ANTI-EVOLUTION j 
LAW SUSTAINED 
IN SCOPES CASE 
But Court Refuses to Confirm 
Conviction, Due to Ille- 
gal Sentence. 
CHARGES DISMISSED 
Judges Unanimously Advise 
Against Continued 
Prosecution. 
NASHVILLE, Tenn., Jan. 15 (By 
The Associated Press) — Tennessee’s 
supreme court today proclaimed the 
fundamental soundness of the 
state's famous law against teaching 
the theory of evolution in state- 
supported scnools. At the same 
time it reversed the verdict of 
guilty against John T. Scopes, 
whose case was on appeal, and then 
barred recourse to the United States 
supreme court by recommending 
that the case be nolle prossed in- 
stead of re-tried. This done 
late today and the case dismissed. 
Without a dissenting vote, the 
court recommended to L. D. Smith, 
state attorney-general, that the 
“peace and dignity” of the state 
would best be served by a nolle 
pi'osse, thus ending what the court 
termed “this bizarre case,” ancc 
and for all. Mr. Smith announced 
he would follow the recommenda- 
tion and not seek a re-trial. 
b Says Act Uncertain 
3 The opinion declaring the ’aw 
t constitutional ,Was delivered by 
i Chief Justice Green and concurred 
« in by two other justices, but Jut- 
. tiee McKinney dissented on the 
1 ground that the act's “uncertainty 
i of meaning,” rendered it invalid. 
The conviction of Scopes, who was 
a science teacher in Dayton high 
school, was reversed because Judge 
John T. Raulston, presiding, fined 
him ,$100, when the, jury failed to 
fix a fine. The high court held that 
only a jury may fix a fine of more 
than '$60 under Tennessee law. 
While obviously disappointed over 
the. action of the court, counsel for 
Scopes pointed to certain features 
US indicating a partial victory for 
the opponents of the law. Express- 
ing satisfaction with the dissenting 
opinion of Justice McKinney, they 
viewed as favorable 'also a part of 
Justice Chambliss' opinion, which 
differed in one phase from the ma- 
jority decision. 
Agrees Law Is Sound 
Justice Chambliss,' while agree- 
ing with Chief Justice Green and 
Justice Cook, as to the organic 
soundness of the law, declared his 
belief that the act "only prohibits 
the teaching , of the materialistic 
I theory of evolution, which denies 
the hand of God in the creation of 
man." 
Commenting, on thjs opinion, 
Henry E. Cotton, attorney for the 
Tennessee Academy ol’ Science, and, 
an associate in Scopes' counsel, as- 
serted that this view was not >p- 
’I Ttnspa » r. +s« -.—-ail. 
