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Published: March 16, 2010
“What else can go up on the wall?”
School board will appeal judge’s ruling in favor of teacher over classroom banners containing references to God
A school board in Southern California has voted to appeal a ruling by a federal judge in favor of a veteran math teacher ordered by school officials to remove patriotic banners from his classroom because they contained references to God.
 In a closed-door meeting on March 8, the board of the Poway Unified School District voted to appeal a decision by U.S. District Court Judge Roger T. Benitez in favor of math teacher Bradley Johnson. In a 32-page decision issued on Feb. 26, Judge Benitez ruled the school district had violated Johnson’s constitutional rights when it ordered him to remove two patriotic banners from the walls of his classroom because they “over emphasized” God. The banners included the phrases “In God We Trust,” “One Nation Under God,” and “God Bless America.”
“That God places prominently in our Nation’s history does not create an Establishment Clause violation requiring curettage and disinfectant for Johnson’s public high school classroom walls,” said Judge Benitez in his ruling. “It is a matter of historical fact that our institutions and government actors have in past and present times given place to a supreme God.”
Following the closed-door vote to appeal the ruling, school board members said they were taking the case to the 9th U.S. Circuit of Appeals because Judge Benitez’s decision left the wide door open for religious content in classroom posters. “If this is allowed, what else can go up on the wall?” asked board member Jeff Mangum in a statement after the board decided to file the appeal.
“The board member’s question was answered by Judge Benitez, who noted in his ruling that school officials banned Johnson’s patriotic displays while permitting other teachers to display personal posters and banners promoting partisan political issues such as gay rights and environmental causes, including global warming,” said a statement in response by the Thomas More Law Center, which represents Johnson.
“The school district’s public statements about this case are dishonest,” said Thomas More Law Center attorney Robert Muise. “School officials have stated under oath that they have no objection to allowing teachers to promote personal political causes such as gay rights and global warming. And they have no objection to a 40-foot display of sacred, Tibetan prayer flags in a science classroom, among countless other religious and political displays. But they do have a personal objection to Mr. Johnson’s patriotic banners because they recognize a fundamental truth that school officials dislike: God plays a prominent role in our Nation’s history and heritage.”
The Ann Arbor, Michigan-based law center filed the federal lawsuit on Johnson’s behalf after the school district ordered him to take down his banners in January 2007. In a March 11 email, Richard Thompson, ?president and chief counsel for the center, said the three-year battle had been costly and asked for public help in continuing the legal battle.
“The appeal could take years,” said Thompson’s email. “However, the school district isn’t worried about the costs. Their appeal will be funded by their insurance company. But Brad Johnson and the Thomas More Law Center depend upon your generosity to fund our litigation.”
To go to the Thomas More Law Center’s donation website, Click Here.
Posted Tuesday, March 16, 2010 3:40 AM By Nino
The US Constitution ends with the wording..'signed this day,in the year of our Lord! a clear reference that Jesus was the Son of God.also in Lincolns Emanicpation Proclamation,he also makes ref.to God..why not have students hold these up for the nazi teachers to attack..Nino
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Posted Tuesday, March 16, 2010 3:48 AM By BJ
The school Board needs to be reined in, and very decisively.
We have tin pot dictatorships all acroos the nation abusing their mandates to fight the Word of God, in favour of the word of the Godless and actively anti-God forces.
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Posted Tuesday, March 16, 2010 6:04 AM By ted
Hmmm.............. Gay pride is OK on campus,
condoms dispensed in the nurse's office is OK.
But use the word "God" and you're in deep, deep trouble. Welcome to California! People of Poway, at the next school board election, remember this one. They will be spending your tax dollars on this appeal, effectively diverting those dollars from the classroom. Vote them OUT !!!
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Posted Tuesday, March 16, 2010 7:08 AM By Kathy
Goes back to the question of whether we are an inclusive society -- acknowledging the fact that in America there is a plurality of beliefs, or an exclusive society, that bans everything. Children raised in a society where there is a reasonable and appropriate recognition of religious diversity are much more likely to be peaceful, well-informed adults. Religion is part of our culture, society, history, literature. You just can't teach around it. I'd rather my child, who is Catholic, have exposure to Judaism, Buddhism, etc. than nothing at all. As for "gay" banners in classrooms. In California, it is a crime for any minor to engage in sex before 18. The schools and teachers have zero right to discuss/promote pre-majority sex, or how to be safely promiscuous, in a school setting. It simply has no place in schools outside the very narrow context of the health, hygiene and natural reproduction taught as part of science curriculum in high school.
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Posted Tuesday, March 16, 2010 7:11 AM By 1abqdad
Who is paying for this insane appeal? Why would anyone allow their child into this environment?
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Posted Tuesday, March 16, 2010 8:49 AM By Elaine
So. . . let me get this right. . . California school districts are out of money, teachers are losing their jobs. . .but Poway has enough money to pay a lawyer to appeal this decision? If I were a Poway teacher I would sue, because apparently the school board has plenty of money to grind their own ax, but not enough money to run their own district as it was run in the past, including teacher salaries and school equipment. With this bunch running a school district, no wonder our schools are in trouble.
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Posted Tuesday, March 16, 2010 11:28 AM By Abeca Christian
Exactly who is paying for this insane appeal! Our taxes that is who! We need to fire these board members! Lets all write and send our complains of this communism board members! We need to act quickly!
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Posted Tuesday, March 16, 2010 3:48 PM By JLS
It's probably more than one lawyer. And the school board will have to hire more administrators and superintendants at 300K each per year just to handle their new dept of law.
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Posted Tuesday, March 16, 2010 10:37 PM By Abeca Christian
It's no wonder they are considering to cut 8% of our teachers salaries in the area I live in, perhaps so they can pay for these frivolous appeals from these types of board members. Their appeal is driven by pride, they just hate to lose!
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