Written by Don Byrd
Often just as important as the cases the Supreme Court decides to hear are those they decline. Today, the Court turned away the appeal of an Ohio public school science teacher who was fired following several incidents involving religion in his classroom.
John Freshwater was accused of posting the Ten Commandments in his room, leaving his Bible out on his desk during class, leaving a mark in the shape of a cross on a student’s arm using an electrical coil, and generally incorporating religious elements into his science class improperly. He filed suit in 2009, arguing that his firing was a violation of his First Amendment rights. No court agreed with him.
Last year, the Ohio State Supreme Court affirmed a lower court ruling upholding the firing as proper after he refused to honor appropriate school district requests (though the court did agree that the order to remove his Bible may have violated his rights). The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision announced today leaves that ruling in place as the final word, bringing to an end Freshwater’s efforts at reinstatement and $1 million in damages.
You can see the long list of today’s Supreme Court orders (pdf) here.
