SCOTUS Rejects Appeal Of Fired Ohio Teacher Pushing Creationism

This June 23, 2009 photo shows Phil Jardine, a paleontology graduate student at the University of Birmingham, United Kingdom, having his photo taken with a dinosaur at the Creation Museum in Petersburg, Ky. He was am... This June 23, 2009 photo shows Phil Jardine, a paleontology graduate student at the University of Birmingham, United Kingdom, having his photo taken with a dinosaur at the Creation Museum in Petersburg, Ky. He was among a group attending a paleontology conference at the University of Cincinnati that made the visit. (AP Photo/The Kentucky Enquirer, Patrick Reddy)** MANDATORY CREDIT ** MORE LESS
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WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court has rejected the appeal of an Ohio public school science teacher who was fired for promoting the theory of creationism and refusing to remove religious materials from his classroom.

The justices on Monday let stand an Ohio Supreme Court ruling that found the Mount Vernon school district had grounds to fire John Freshwater in 2011 for insubordination for keeping religious books and a poster of a praying president.

The state court said the district infringed on Freshwater’s First Amendment rights by ordering him to remove his personal Bible from his desk, but found he was insubordinate for keeping the other items.

Freshwater’s attorney had argued that the firing violated the teacher’s free speech rights.

Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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  1. Avatar for dnl dnl says:

    A small battle won for intelligence…

    In a sea of willful malignorance.

  2. Good,he was hired to teach science not promote his brand of faux religion. And why would a guy who does not believe in Science teach Science.

  3. Just to be clear, this is the guy that thought it was a good idea to burn crosses on students’ arms.

  4. It would seem to me that first amendment rights to free speech should not extend into the public school classroom. Why does he not teach at a religious school, where his point of view is welcome or even encouraged. He knew better, (maybe) and was trying to push his 'ligeousness into the public school.

  5. Avatar for jdmvt jdmvt says:

    SEE??? Conservative Christians ARE persecuted here in the US… how far we’ve strayed from the Founding Fathers’ vision of a nation founded on Christian values…

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