Judge tosses bulk of Christian teacher's suit

sacbee ^ | 4-29-05

[LouAvul]

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - A federal judge is dismissing the bulk of a lawsuit brought by a fifth-grade teacher who claims his lesson plan is being censored by his superiors because he is a Christian.

Stephen Williams, who teaches at Stevens Creek Elementary School in Cupertino, filed suit in November claiming Principal Patricia Vidmar and other officials illegally restricted his teachings, which included presenting historical documents referencing God.

U.S. District Judge James Ware, in dismissing much of Williams' suit on Thursday, said Williams' speech rights were not restricted because "teachers do not have a First Amendment right to determine what curriculum will be taught in the classroom." But the judge kept the part of the suit alive in which Williams claims that because he is an avowed Christian, the principal is censoring and reviewing his supplemental teaching material while not doing the same for other teachers.

Ware let that argument go forward in the preliminary stages of the case, based solely on the allegation without considering the school's defense: that the content of his materials and complaints from parents, not his religion, prompted the school to single him out.

Ware said it was too early in the case to entertain that defense.

Among the banned documents, the suit says, were religious excerpts from the Declaration of Independence, various state constitutions and writings by George Washington, John Adams and William Penn.

[Americanexpat]

1st Amendment rights do not give teachers the right to decide what will be taught in the classroom.

HMMMM

Seems to work for liberal teachers and professors.

[Torie]

Seems like a ludicrous lawsuit.

[Darkwolf]

SAN FRANCISCO (AP)

After the headline and this, I read no farther. I bet I didn't miss anything.

[kingattax]

Judge Ware is from Alabama and his nomination to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals was halted when he admitted lying about witnessing the alleged racially-motivated murder of his brother when he was 13.

Ware was nominated to the 9th Circuit by Bill Clinton in 1997 after the judge changed his party affiliation from Republican to Democrat.

Read more here

[tflabo]

Remember..."Liberals are tolerant and open-minded". (Christians excluded, of course)

[Just A Nobody]

"teachers do not have a First Amendment right to determine what curriculum will be taught in the classroom."

I guess only wardhog churchill has 1st amendment rights. I think this is the teacher that Sean Hannity traveled to Cupertino to put on his show. IIRC one, and only one, parent complained & used his non-custodial child for his complaint.

[concerned about politics]

Among the banned documents, the suit says, were religious excerpts from the Declaration of Independence, various state constitutions and writings by George Washington, John Adams and William Penn.

C'mon. We're talking liberal controlled indoctrination centers here. Anything pro-American is sooo politically incorrect.
You can teach killing infants, killing the disabled, killing the elderly, homosexual abominations, tax theft, cussing, free sex, earth worship, disobeying parents, lies for the cause, and drinkin' beer on Sunday, but by golly don't you dare mention righteousness in any way. That's out! You're out!
It's for the sake of the children, don't cha know.

[concerned about politics]

Judge Ware is from Alabama and his nomination to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals was halted when he admitted lying about witnessing the alleged racially-motivated murder of his brother when he was 13.
Ware was nominated to the 9th Circuit by Bill Clinton in 1997 after the judge changed his party affiliation from Republican to Democrat.

This is a very good example why Frist must use the Constitutrional option to clean up this judicial mess.

[little jeremiah]

ping to self for later pingout.

[NormsRevenge]

Ware was originally nominated as a Federal District Judge by GB1 in 1990.

Clinton then tried to put him on the 9th circus in 1997, but Ware's past caught up with him and he withdrew.

[little jeremiah]

Moral Absolutes Ping.

The rest of the story - I wonder if the teacher will appeal? Check out (I guess do a FR search) previous articles about this teacher. He handed out excerpts of documents (and maybe entire documents, I don't remember) - including the Declaration of Independence, writings of the founding fathers and the like.

The principle fired him, since the documents had the dread word "God" in them.

If anyone knows more about this story, post it up!

Let me know if you want on/off this pinglist.

[little jeremiah]

Hmm - maybe I got it wrong; I thought he was fired, and from this excerpt it looks as though he wasn't fired...