The State of Tennessee v. John Thomas Scopes, commonly known as the Scopes trial or Scopes Monkey Trial, was a United States State Supreme court legal case from July 10 to July 21, 1925. A high school teacher, John T. Scopes was accused of violating the Butler Act, a Tennessee state law which outlawed the teaching of human evolution in public schools. The trial was deliberately staged in order to attract publicity to the small town of Dayton, Tennessee, where it occurred. Scopes was unsure whether he had ever actually taught evolution, but he incriminated himself deliberately so the case could have a defendant (Britannica, 2026).

In March 1925, the state of Tennessee enacted the Butler Act. The Butler Act strictly prohibited the teaching of any theory denying the biblical account of human creation, specifically banning the instruction of human evolution in public schools (Vanderbilt, 2025). The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) viewed this legislation as an infringement upon academic freedom and scientific inquiry. In an effort to challenge the constitutionality of the law, the ACLU offered to support any teacher willing to stand as a defendant in a test case. John Scopes, a 24-year-old science teacher in the small county of Dayton, Tennessee, volunteered to participate. The subsequent legal battle transformed the quiet community into the center of the national debate regarding the separation of church and state (Civil Liberties Union, 2010).

The trial featured a clash between two of the most prominent legal and political figures of the era. Representing the defense was Clarence Darrow, a renowned criminal defense attorney who wanted to protect academic freedom and challenge what he perceived as a trend toward religious intolerance in government. Opposing him was William Jennings Bryan, a three-time presidential candidate and an outspoken fundamentalist Christian leader who championed the Butler Act as a reflection of the moral will of the community (Vanderbilt, 2026). The proceedings were presided over by Judge John Raulston, who maintained a conservative approach and famously limited the ability of the defense to present expert scientific testimony.

Beginning in July 1925, the trial quickly drew international attention and was frequently characterized as a public spectacle, with the proceedings even being broadcast live via radio. Throughout the trial, Judge Raulston refused to allow the defense to call expert witnesses to testify on the validity of evolutionary theory, ruling that the case was specifically about whether Scopes had violated the law. Not the scientific merits of the theory itself. In a dramatic legal maneuver, Darrow called Williams Jennings Bryan to the stand as an expert witness on the Bible (ACLU, 2010). Darrow’s intense interrogation forced Bryan to defend a literal interpretation of biblical events, a tactic that effectively undermined Bryan’s credibility and highlighted the deep divide between traditionalist religious views and modern scientific thought.

Following a brief trial, the jury reached a verdict of guilty after only nine minutes of deliberation, and John Scopes was fined $100 for his violation of the Butler Act (History.com). While the prosecution technically won this case, the outcome was soon challenged. The Tennessee Supreme Court eventually overturned the conviction on a technicality- the judge, rather than the jury, had set the fine-  which prevented the case from being appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. Although the Butler Act remained in law for several more decades, it was effectively rendered unenforceable, as the trial signaled to the nation that anti-evolution laws were increasingly viewed as out of step with modern education.

Graph of Evolution Taught in Schools