Freedom of Assembly, Gone Forever, part 2

In my recent post, Freedom of Assembly, Gone Forever?, I proved that, even in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis, government stay-at-home orders are unconstitutional.  Again, I am not saying that people shouldn’t take precautions to protect themselves.  But these precautions should be your own choice. There is a great principle involved.

Here are some relevant quotes from the Founding Fathers:

It cannot be presumed that any clause in the Constitution is intended to be without effect.

Maybury v. Madison 5 U.S. 137, 174 (1803)

They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.

Benjamin Franklin

Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take but as for me: give me liberty or give me death.

Patrick Henry, The War Inevitable

Live Free or Die!

John Stark, General, Massachusetts Militia

Civil government is like fire.  It is necessary and beneficial, but when out of control, it is worse than not having it at all.  Time and time again, whenever a crisis arises, people are willing to give up their liberty in exchange for safety, only to end up in more danger because of the monster that they have created to save them.  I am not advocating that we should be fighting the politicians who are violating our rights.  I am only advocating a realization that we need to be prepared for more of the same and we need to get right with God.  A physical revolution at this point would be fruitless.

Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.

John Adams (Quoted in John R. Howe, Jr., The Changing Political Thought of John Adams [Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1961, p. 189].)

They have healed the wound of my people lightly, saying, 'Peace, peace,' when there is no peace.

Jeremiah 6:14 (ESV)

While people are saying, "There is peace and security," then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.

1 Thessalonians 5:3 (ESV)

 We are not like we were in the days of the American Revolution.  We have turned our backs on God and what we deserve is even worse than what we are going to get.

The Right Way to Amend the Constitution, part 12

This is part twelve of an ongoing series of articles containing proposals for amendments to the Constitution. For someone who claims so fervently to be a “Constitutionalist”, how is it that I can be so eager to change the Constitution? Well, there are several reasons. For one thing, I believe that after the Bill of Rights, much damage was done by some of the amendments that were added and the legitimacy of some of their ratifications are questionable. Secondly, the Constitution has been violated so much that the necessity of further amendments is needed to resolve the resulting problems. But this should be done extremely cautiously. These amendments are extremely unlikely to ever be introduced, much less ratified, but hey, I can dream, can’t I?

I got this one from a well written article, The Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions: Guideposts of Limited Government, written by William J. Watkins, Jr. This is a fascinating historical account of the struggle to impose proper restraints on the federal government with particular respect to the Alien and Sedition Acts, which plainly denied Americans their first amendment right to freedom of speech over 200 years ago. It’s well worth the time to read and share with others this lesson from history, which illustrates the need for the following amendment, which was included in the article.

Section 1. The Constitutional Commission shall settle questions presented by the several States concerning the constitutionality of measures or actions taken by the government of the United States.

Section 2. The Constitutional Commission shall be composed of one Commissioner from each State chosen every second year by the people of the several States from two candidates chosen by the State Legislature, and the electors in each State shall have the qualifications requisite for the electors of the most numerous branch of the State Legislature; each Commissioner shall have one vote.

Section 3. No person except a natural born citizen shall be eligible to the office of Commissioner; nor shall any person be eligible to that office who shall not have attained to the age of thirty-five years, and been fourteen years a resident within the United States, and been nine years a resident of that State for which he shall be chosen. No person shall be elected to the office of Commissioner more than four times.

Section 4. When vacancies happen by resignation, or otherwise, during the recess of the Legislature of any State, the executive thereof may make temporary appointments until the next meeting of the Legislature, which shall choose two candidates to present to the people to fill the vacancy.

Section 5. The Constitutional Commission shall assemble at least once in every year, and such meeting shall begin at noon on the third day of January, unless they shall by law appoint a different day. The Constitutional Commission shall choose their Chairman and other officers. The Commission shall be the judge of the election returns and qualifications of its own members, and three-fourths of its members shall constitute a quorum to do business. The Commission may determine the rules of its proceedings. The Commission shall keep a journal of its proceedings, and from time to time publish the same.

Section 6. The Commissioners shall receive a compensation for their services, to be ascertained by law, and paid out of the Treasury of the United States. No Commissioner shall, during the time for which he was elected, be appointed to any civil office under the authority of the United States.

Section 7. Whenever the Chairman of the Constitutional Commission shall receive petitions from one-fifth of the legislatures of the several States requesting a ruling on the constitutionality of a specific measure or action of the government of the United States, the Commission shall convene. The act or measure of the national government shall be void and of no force if three-fourths of the Commissioners present vote against its constitutionality, or if three-fourths of the Commissioners from one section of the United States shall vote against the constitutionality of the act or measure.

Section 8. The three sections of the United States are defined as follows.

The Western Section shall be composed of Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.

The Southern Section shall be composed of Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia.

The Northern Section shall be composed of Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Wisconsin.

Whenever new States are admitted to the Union, the Commission shall make the necessary modifications to the sectional compositions.

Section 9. The Constitutional Commission shall not sit as a Convention as prescribed in Article 5 of the Constitution of the United States.

Click here to read the next article in this series.

First Amendment Rights Violated at Post Office

Patriot Depot Bumper Sticker

Righting First Amendment Wrongs

Not only is the United States Postal Service a model of inefficiency, ineffectiveness and bloated bureaucracy, now it apparently allows blatant violations of the rights of conservatives and Christians. Do the supervisors have too much time on their hands? Maybe they need to find a job? Read the following story, which I saw today www.PatriotUpdate.com, what do you think?

Postal Worker denied First Amendment Rights

By: Jay Taylor

GROVE CITY, OH. A postal carrier who has served the United States Postal Service in Grove City, Ohio for 21 years recently sent an email to The Patriot Update claiming that his First Amendment rights are being denied. It all started when John (we’re protecting his real identity for now) displayed a couple of conservative bumper stickers from The Patriot Depot on his car. His supervisors demanded that he remove the stickers from his personal vehicle if he wanted to continue parking on the USPS employee lot.

Read the rest of the above article here.

In America in 2009 it is fashionable, tolerable, and very acceptable to mock, marginalize, discriminate against conservatives and Christians on any and every public and private venue. The hatred on the part of the Left is so vehement because they want to eradicate what they apparently perceive as the last barrier to implementing their full socialistic, Marxist, globalist agenda.

You see evidence of this in the John Freshwater case in Mount Vernon, Ohio. They not only want God out of the schools, but they want Christ-followers out, too. You also see a clear example of this in the opposition media's (ABC, AP, CBS, CNN, MSNBC, PBS, etc.) treatment or mistreatment of Sarah Palin ever since she set foot on the national stage. They want all godly, Christian, conservative and traditional, historical American values purged everywhere, from the public square to the kindergarten. The media, entertainment, education, even so-called mainline Churches (same-sex champion Episcopalian, Evangelical Lutheran, etc.) don't want anything to do with the God of the Judeo-Christian Bible or the conservative principles of the Founders.

John Freshwater Hearing Stalled

Righting First Amendment Wrongs

It has now been well over a year since the controversy over a teacher’s first amendment right to have his personal Bible on his classroom desk began. The middle school teacher was subsequently accused of marking the arm of one of his students in his science class. Later, fearing legal action, he was apparently set-up by the school and administration, which built a case to get rid of him.

I had not seen much about the case lately. I did find a brief article in the Columbus Dispatch a week ago that gave a brief update. The Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch has been biased in its coverage of the story from the start. A week ago yesterday, this liberal yellow, or is it ‘red,’ journal, published a revealing paragraph in an article, summarizing the ‘facts’ of the case as follows:

"Following a school-district investigation last year, (John) Freshwater was accused of preaching in class, burning crosses on students' arms with a laboratory device and disobeying orders to remove a Bible and other religious items from his classroom."

That summary was sensationalized, biased and very subjective.

From my personal observation, having followed this story, having attended a few of the hearing sessions and having read accounts in newspapers and blogs, I think the summary should more accurately read something like this:


The school district hired a mom and pop investigative firm which limited their investigation to achieve a predetermined outcome, that which strengthened and supported the school board’s position. The investigator’s report was actually screened by the board’s attorney before it was finalized.

Years ago, Freshwater advocated that alternatives to the Theory of Evolution be included in the science curriculum. This upset some of his fellow teachers and administrators. For a brief period of time the State of Ohio did allow it to be included in the teaching curriculum. Freshwater, during a time when it was appropriate and ‘lawful’ to present alternatives to evolution within the curriculum, did so. When it became ‘unlawful’ or not part of accepted curriculum, he stopped teaching the alternatives. Now, he may have responded to student’s inquiries about faith-based matters and he may have answered those inquiries. But this is still America and no one has to check in his beliefs at the school door entrance.

One apparently disgruntled student, who had voluntarily agreed to be involved in the experiment, had been apparently touched and may have been ‘marked’ with a Tesla Coil. That device was being used by other teachers and by Mr. Freshwater for years without incident. His parents complained on their son's behalf complained to the school. Unsatisfied with the school's response, they later sued the school board.

The school principal did demand that Mr. Freshwater remove his personal Bible from his desk as well as ‘religious’ posters, etc. in his classroom. Freshwater complied, with the exception of his personal Bible, which had been at his side for 20 years. That was why he was eventually terminated and that is why he is challenging his termination, which he has a right to do under his teachers’ union contract.


The first amendment guarantee, a person's to freely express his faith, is what is at the core of this case. A man was unfairly fired because of his faith.

The Columbus Dispatch reporter postulated in his article that the hearings would possibly resume in mid-September.

You can review some of my previous articles regarding this case by clicking here.

John Freshwater, Back in the News, Nationally

Righting First Amendment Wrongs

This article includes an update on the John Freshwater Bible-on-the-Desk controversy as well as a video which outlines what is behind the attack on Christian teachers such as John Freshwater.

I have not written about John Freshwater very much lately. The alleged President has sidetracked me with all of his socialist shenanigans. So I now return, attempting to catch up on the John Freshwater story. John Freshwater is the middle school science teacher in sleepy little Mount Vernon, Ohio, who got in trouble by refusing to take his personal Bible off of his desk when told to do so by a superior. Subsequently the school administration disciplined him for allegedly marking a student’s arm with a Tesla coil during a science class demonstration. Also, he was accused of being too much of a Christian in his role as a public school teacher. Today our godless secular humanistic educational system frowns on anyone or anything that apparently even thinks a thought about God or, His Son, Jesus Christ. God forbid!

THE CONTRACT HEARING

Later this week (on Thursday and Friday) his contract hearing is scheduled to resume.

The Freshwater fiasco has been going on since the Spring of 2008. After over 20 years teaching in the Mount Vernon schools, he was suspended without pay since the end of the 2007-2008 school year for the issues named earlier. Last September Freshwater filed a civil lawsuit against the parents, who had accused him of marking their son with the Tesla coil. I believe that that lawsuit is moving through the courts.

THE NATIONAL MEDIA

Many newspapers, websites and blogs across Ohio and America reported that Freshwater filed a lawsuit against the Mount Vernon School District for $1 million on Monday, June 8, 2009. That lawsuit with its 16 counts can be read here. His lawsuit has definitely garnered attention.

Much of the leftist media, websites and blogs have nothing positive to say about Freshwater. They consider him to be a foolish Creationists/Intelligent Design adherent, who rejects evolutionary ‘science,’ which in reality is just an unproven theory itself. The education elite even balk at merely teaching the weaknesses of the unproven theory of evolution, so much for academic freedom. Can you spell (the movie) E-X-P-E-L-L-E-D?

Here is an example of what is being written in the leftist press. Steve Gobles wrote in the Mansfield (Ohio) News-Journal, “Basically, he is accused of undermining legitimate science -- evolution theory -- and pressing make-believe "science" based on Scripture . . . The lawsuit -- and its hefty $1 million asking price -- could have an impact that goes well beyond Mount Vernon and Ohio. Superintendents elsewhere have to contend with teachers who think Genesis is a science textbook, too, and so they will be watching closely." This is a natural evolution of taking God and the Bible out of our schools in the sixties. What we have is chaos and a broken and failed educational system.

Yesterday, David Hart blamed Freshwater in the Boiled Frog blog article for the failures on our present education system,

"While I expect that Freshwater's complaint in federal court will be dismissed, the damage has been done. Students have embraced mythology and superstition in contrast to real science. Our fifteen year-olds are in the bottom fourth of the 30 largest industrialized nations in math and science scores. "Teachers" like Freshwater bear some measure of responsibility for that failure. Moreover, Freshwater has created another group of homophobic bigots. Also disturbing is the idea that Freshwater was comfortable with outright lies about his conduct. It appears that he feels that he is permitted to lie in furtherance of Christianity. Apparently "false witness" can be applied selectively."

This is absolutely ludicrous. Freshwater's science class were the best of the three middle school science classes as far as state testing scores. Quite the opposite, Freshwater and other Christan teachers are actually trying to hold the tide of further regression and failure of our schools, not the cause of its failure. The number one cause of underperforming, unproductive schools is the expulsion of God, the Bible and Judeo-Christian values and principles from our schools!

Realistically, academic freedom is non-existent on most American campuses. It was thrown out in the 1960s with God and the Bible. You can mark a progressive decline of education in this nation since that point in history. It has reached a climax where here an outstanding, award-winning, teacher beloved by his students is given the ax on some freedom-of-faith robbing charges and some trumped up charges to purge him from the indoctrination center. He doesn’t fit the program or profile of what is a ‘good’ teacher in the eyes of the bureaucrats.

Last night (Monday) there is a School Board Meeting, which I was not able to attend. This is the first meeting following the filing of the lawsuit by Mr. Freshwater. It will be interesting to see if that lawsuit changes anything surrounding the on-going contract hearing and the relationship between Freshwater and the school board and administration. Here is a recent newspaper report, "Citizens square off with MV school board," of the public comments, mostly favorable to Mr. Freshwater, recorded at the Mount Vernon School Board Meeting last night. See also Accountablility in the Media's videos of some of the public hearing portion of the Mount Vernon School Board meeting.

Although I do not agree with many of the editorial comments and slant of Richard Hoppe in his Panda's Thumb blog, he does articulate a nice summary of the Freshwater fiasco in his article titled, "Freshwater brings suit against Board of Education." In that article he predicts, "The hearing is scheduled to resume on June 18, but in light of this new federal lawsuit and the refusal of the Board members to testify in the hearing, it’s unlikely that date will be kept."

Many people from both sides of this controversy are following this important case. I believe that the first amendment rights of John Freshwater, other teachers and other Americans are at stake her. Unfortunately, we are turning more and more from being a fundamentally Christian nation into a godless, secular socialistic state. Even the current occupier of the White House denies that America is a Christian nation, extolling our 'large' Muslim population instead, in his anti-American jaunts to the Europe and the Middle East.

However, we were undeniably established as a Judeo-Christian centric nation and the vast majority of Americans consider ourselves as still being Christian. It is the elite who have maneuvered into positions of power and control in Washington, in academia, in science, in entertainment, in the media, and in much of corporate America - all would rather be politically correct than honest. They along with the ACLU, People for the American Way and 'Americans' United for the Separation of Church and State are seeking to undermine the foundation upon which this nation was built and stands. They would rather revise America's history than accept something that opposes their skewed beliefs and values, which are all antithetical to those of our founding fathers.

THE BOTTOM LINE

Here is a video, which I found on the Values Voters News website. It describes what is really underlying the attack on John Freshwater and his Bible and Christianity here in America. John Freshwater is briefly mentioned in this video.

‘Separation of Church and State’ is a Lie

Bill Wilson had an excellent commentary last Friday (May 8, 2009) in his Daily Jot on the so-called ‘separation of church and state’ concept or interpretation. The following is an excerpt from article, “Constitutional Freedom and This Present Darkness.”

“. . . The Founding Fathers of America were very precise in their writing of the Constitution. Their words were direct in that they did not want to be misinterpreted, but like those who misinterpret the Bible, there have been gross misinterpretations of the Constitution. One such misinterpretation is separation of church and state.

“The First Amendment to the Constitution reads: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” This specifically means that government is “hands off” on anything that restricts religion, freedom of speech, the right to assemble peaceably and to petition the Government for grievances. It means that religion and free speech have free reign—it can be practiced anywhere, anytime, especially on public property, because Congress cannot restrict it and if the other branches try they are violating the Constitution . . .

· Laws that restrict speech, such as hate crimes;
· laws that restrict establishment of religion and the free exercise thereof such as
. . . hate crimes,
. . . prayer in public places, at government functions, at public school athletic events;
· those that prohibit displays of Christianity in public places
are unconstitutional by the very definition of the Constitution. They were not changed by an explicit and authentic act of the whole people, as Washington suggests is the only way to change the Constitution. It is time for Christian Americans to stand up and say no to this overreaching government of might makes right . . .”

Keep Conscience Protections in Place for Physicians, Pharmacists, Nurses, etc.

Righting First Amendment Wrongs

As the period for public comment draws to a close this week many prominent pro-life groups and leaders are calling on religious, Christian Americans, and all men of good will to inundate Washington with petitions to retain regulations protecting healthcare workers' conscience rights.

Actually, the open public comment period will end tomorrow at 11:59 p.m. on Thursday, April 9, which is thirty days after President Soetoro (a/k/a Obama) formally announced his intention to rescind the Health and Human Services (HHS) regulations in the Federal Register.

These regulations, which were enacted by President Bush just prior to leaving office, enforce existing federal laws that acknowledge the rights of health care workers – Physicians, Pharmacists, Nurses, etc. - not to be forced to perform or provide for procedures - such as performing, aiding or abetting in abortions such as dispensing Abortifacient drugs such as RU486 (the human pesticide) - that would violate their personal, moral, or religious beliefs.

Unfortunately, this is yet another attempt of the vehemently pro-death president in his undeclared war on the pre-born. Here is one place for all pro-life persons to try to hold the line on the ever-advancing march of the administration wave of destructive attacks against human life. All life is precious and sacred. However, that fact is not acknowledged or regarded by secular humanists in control of our government. The president and the majority party in Congress believe that they, themselves, are god and reject the absolute truth of the existence of good and evil. Instead, they base their worldview, their policies, and their actions on godless, incredulous secular-humanism.

TAKE ACTION

(1) Email HHS

Comments may be submitted to the Department of Health and Human Services by email at proposedrescission@hhs.gov

Here is a suggested wording to include in your email:

“Please keep the freedom of conscience regulation, (the December 19, 2008 final rule). Please also enforce all the laws protecting the right of health care providers – including Physicians, Pharmacist, Nurses, etc. - to serve patients without violating medical ethics or their moral or religious convictions. The government has a responsibility to patients to ensure that the conscience rights of all health care providers are protected.”

(2) Call the White House

All concerned Americans should also call the White House comment line (202-456-1111) between the hours of 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. Eastern, Mon.-Fri.) and ask to leave a message for the President. The message we should leave is to request that the president and HHS to keep the freedom of conscience protections for health care workers, as outlined in the December 19, 2008 regulations, in place.

SOURCE:

http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/apr/09040608.html - "Last Chance to Ask Obama Administration to Retain Conscience Protections for Pro-Life Doctors"

John Freshwater Termination Hearing Day 18

Righting First Amendment Wrongs
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“Healing session discussed at Freshwater hearing,” was the headline that spread across the front page of the April 3rd edition of the Mount Vernon News newspaper, published Friday afternoon. The article covered the events of John Freshwater’s contract termination hearing that took place on Thursday. I made a special trip to pick up Friday’s edition of the newspaper.

Except for this local newspaper article, I could not find very much coverage of the day’s events in this long, drawn out ‘trial.’ I could not find any account in the Columbus Dispatch, which had been covering much of the hearing.

This article is based almost exclusively on the Mount Vernon News account. According to reporter Pamela Schehl there were three witnesses on Thursday. The first was a pastor who, the second is a middle school health teacher, and the third an 8th grade social studies teacher.

STEPHEN ZIRKLE

Pastor Zirkle participated in several Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) meetings. There was an allegation that Freshwater overstepped his bounds as a monitor of this extracurricular activity. Zirkle is also subject of an alleged “healing session” was held following the March 18, 2008 FCA meeting at the Mount Vernon Middle School, which was one of the allegations against Mr. Freshwater. Zirkle did not recall John Freshwater’s having any leadership role in that meeting or whether he had prayed along with the students. However, upon cross-examination by the school board’s attorney, David Millstone, he did concede that it was possible that Freshwater initiated the prayer for Pastor Zirkle.

My comment would be that even if Freshwater did suggest that a prayer be made on behalf of Pastor Zirkle, or even if he did pray for him, should he not have a right to exercise his religious liberty? Are teachers expected to check their 'religious' convictions or beliefs at the school house door and assume a completely godless, heretical secular humanistic core of beliefs? I don’t think so.

WESLEY ELIFRZ

Elifriz was a middle school health teacher who observed that Freshwater had a Bible on his desk. Elifriz admitted that he also had ‘religious articles’ in his room, up until very recently, that is.

The Mt. Vernon News article records this comment made by Elifriz, “he observed students calling “I love science” when they passed Freshwater’s room, and got the impression they both liked and respected him (Freshwater).”

It certainly seemed that Freshwater enjoyed teaching and his students enjoyed him and the subject he taught. It seems like the students were learning. Because Freshwater did not conform to the secular humanistic worldview of life as is apparently expected of state or government employees, does this make him the “enemy”? That certainly appears to me to be the case.

ANDREW THOMPSON

Thompson, according the Mount Vernon News article, was an eighth-grade social studies teacher at the middle school. Thompson had previously served as an intervention specialist. In the role of an intervention specialist he had several opportunities to accompany students to Freshwater’s science class. He is also a former student of Freshwater’s and regularly attended FCA meetings while a student and then as a teacher.

Thompson described Freshwater as a “dynamic teacher who is passionate about what he does.” The Mount Vernon News article report, “Thompson said he never heard Freshwater speak about religion in class and never heard him discuss intelligent design or creationism in class. He said Freshwater’s teaching methods got students engaged and excited about science.”

Furthermore the newspaper noted, “Thompson also compared the scores of Freshwater’s science students with other science students’ test results. Freshwater’s students scored higher, he said, and that data does not support the allegations that Freshwater’s students needed to be retaught in high school.”

Thompson testified that he questioned the HR On-Call Report and even went to the School Board with his concerns that the report was “inaccurate, incomplete and one-sided.”

Rom what I have observed, read and heard one of the two investigators testify, the HR On-Call report does seem to have been subjective, biased, and meant to provide the fodder for and to facilitate the firing of Mr. Freshwater.

THE HEARING CONTINUES . . .

The hearing was to have been held yesterday (Friday), however it had been cancelled on Thursday evening. Thursday, May 7th is the tentative date for the continuance of the hearing.

Freshwater termination hearing Days 16 & 17

Righting First Amendment Wrongs

Do we still have the right to freely exercise our religion?

MOUNT VERNON, OHIO The following is a summary of the activities transpiring on Thursday and Friday, March 26 and 27 at the John Freshwater contract hearing. I previously posted an article about the Wednesday coverage, which I gleaned from newspaper reports on the Internet. I have been covering this saga since last spring; you can explore my previous articles.

I was able to attend Friday's session in person.

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DAY 16

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The following is a recap of Thursday hearing as obtained through online newspaper account on the MountVernonNews.com site and an article from the Columbus Dispatch site.

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BEN NIELSON

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Ben Nielson was a former student of John Freshwater last year. He was one of the major witnesses who were questioned on Thursday.

Reporter Pamela Schehl on MountVernonNews.com reported:

““That’s not Zach’s arm,” said Ben Nielson, former student of John Freshwater, as he testified late this afternoon in Freshwater’s contract termination hearing. Nielson said he had seen Zach Dennis’s arm the day after he was supposedly injured by Freshwater, and further stated the newspaper photo of the alleged injury did not match what he had seen in the flesh.

“Nielson said he had also volunteered for the Tesla coil experiment, and that’s why he and Dennis were discussing and comparing arms.”

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LYNDA WESTON

Ms. Lynda Weston, the former curriculum administrator for Mount Vernon schools, was one of the major witnesses on Thursday. She recently retired from her position.

According to Dean Narcisco's report on the Columbus Dispatch online:

“Lynda Weston told investigators hired by the district that she had fielded complaints about Freshwater for 11 years. Weston testified that she was told about incidents over that period but she could document complaints only since about 2002.

“She said Freshwater's charisma and popularity made him a danger to students.

“"If you have a great deal of influence with students, and if what you're teaching them is not recognized science, they are going to believe you."”

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DAY 17

I was able to attend the Friday, March 27 session. The morning session lasted around 3 hours, while the afternoon session took a short 30 minutes or less. Only one witness was interrogated during each session. As an interesting side note, there were approximately 30 people present in the hearing room and about six laptops.

The first witness was Julia Herlevi, one of the investigators and the afternoon witness was Jeff Cline, who was a friend of John Freshwater.

JULIA HERLEVI

Kelly Hamilton, John Freshwater’s attorney was very intense in his questioning of Julia Herlevi one of the two-person investigation team. She claimed to play second fiddle to her husband, Tom, who was the primary investigator. However, some of the people she had interviewed separately were key to this case. She and her husband interviewed John Freshwater initially. There was some indication that they were supposed to interview him a second time, but they never did.

Mrs. Herlevi stated that she did the proofing and editing of the investigation report, which was paid for and presented to the School Board. It was revealing that before the report had been finalized, it was given to the School Board’s attorney, David Millstone, for “clarification” prior to finalization. She thought that maybe one paragraph might have been changed as a result, again for “clarification.”

Mrs. Herlevi did not bring any of her notes from the investigation and was relying on her, what turned out, to be a faint memory of the facts of the investigation. Both attorneys had had copies and used portions of her notes which were previously subpoenaed. This did refresh her memory somewhat. It was revealed that neither she nor her husband used any type of audio recording equipment. Apparently that was their S.O.P.

RETEACHING MR. FRESHWATER’S STUDENTS

It was odd that the investigators interviewed High School social studies teachers to see if they had had to re-teach Mr. Freshwater’s students, because of what he taught them. There was a discussion about an allegation that Mr. Freshwater had made students memorize Bible verses. Mrs. Herlevi could not substantiate them.

THE DENNIS FAMILY

Three key individuals, Zach Dennis and his parents, apparently had not yet been scheduled to testify at the hearing. The Dennis family representative, who has had a seat at the table alongside the school board superintendent and the school board’s attorney Mr. Millstone, and who records the notes on her laptop, indicated that she would try to find out if the Dennis family were available for the hearing next week.

The testimony this week revealed some conflicts in Dennis’s allegations.

During one telling point in the questioning of Mrs. Herlevi, Kelly Hamilton asked why she did not pursue finding out more details about where on Zach Dennis’s arm that he was allegedly “branded,” “burned,” or “marked.” She said that because both the Dennis and Mr. Freshwater corroborated the fact of that the marking occurred, it was unnecessary to pursue it any further. [The implication to me was that this portion of the investigation was not very thorough. It should have been because it was such a big portion of the allegations against Mr. Freshwater.] Student Ben Nielson, who testified the previous day, doubted that the Tesla coil alone could have made such a mark on Zach’s arm. Ben even questioned whether the photos provided by the Dennis family were even of Ben’s arm.

BIBLES IN THE SCHOOL

Attorney Hamilton concluded his questioning of Mrs. Herlevi with some discussion of the following excerpt from page 13 of the HR On-Call investigation report, from the summary of the investigators’ interview with Mr. Freshwater:

“During our interview on May 15, 2008 Mr. Freshwater . . . also said he has a Bible beside desk on his lab table that he checked out of the school library. When asked if the school Bible was there to make a statement, he said, “Yes.””

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Mr. Hamilton concluded that the second sentence above was a subjective opinion and did not capture the true essence of what Mr. Freshwater was saying about having the second Bible in the room. During the interview and based on the notes that Mrs. Herlevi had written recording the interview. The Bible was there to show that the Bible had been checked out to many children through the years and that the school had purchased it. It was okay to have the Bible in the school; the school even had them in its library. Hamilton indicated that the investigators summary was not only subjective, but inflammatory.

JEFF CLINE

During the shortened afternoon session Jeff Cline testified. The questioning of Mr. Cline centered around the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) and the role of Mr. Freshwater in that group. He was the facilitator, monitor and supervisor of that extracurricular activity. Mr. Cline indicated that Mr. Freshwater had no direct leadership role in the FCA activities, in which Cline took part.

Also, there was some discussion regarding the April 16 rally on the public square for Mr. Freshwater, which Cline indicated Freshwater had no part in planning. Mr. Cline testified that Mr. Freshwater had a paperback Bible which he carried with him. The Bible, which Mr. Freshwater had on his desk was one of several Bibles owned by Mr. Freshwater. That particular Bible was kept on his desk.

During Mrs. Herlevi’s testimony, she seemed to imply that if the Bible that Mr. Freshwater kept on his desk was so personal, why didn’t he carry that one.

CONCLUSION

The referee in this case will have a great amount of testimony to sort through. I believe that Freshwater's attorney pointed out some flaws in the Investigators' report. The selection of interviewees appeared to be selective and geared to a specific outcome favoring the School Board. The investigators could have been more thorough and more objective. They should have interviewed John Freshwater a second time, the should have interviewed more students and teachers, and they did not seem to be very thorough on the location and description of the alleged "burn" or mark on Zach Dennis's arm. At this point there seems no clear cut "winner" to me.

OTHER RESOURCES/ACCOUNTS

*** AccountabilityintheMedia.com

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*** SupportFreshwater.com

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*** Richard B. Hoppe in his blog article, “Freshwater Hearing: Whose Arm? Some Contradictions,” offers additional details regarding the Thursday and Friday testimonies.

NEXT HEARING DATES

The hearing will continue next week on Thursday, April 2nd and Friday, April 3rd. The referee indicated that he would provide the attorneys and the Dennis’ attorney with the dates in May and June for which he would be available. This case started in October of 2008.

Freshwater ‘Show Trial’ Reconvenes - Day 15

Righting First Amendment Wrongs
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Now costing the Mount Vernon City School Board an Obamaspheric (for a small city) $250,000, so far, The contract termination hearing for John Freshwater restarted this morning at 9:00 AM. The Mount Vernon News website reported last week that the hearing, which had been scheduled to resume on Friday March 20th was rescheduled to resume today. It did. You can read my previous articles related to this hearing and this gross injustice.
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The following is a recap of the John Freshwater 'trial' for those who are unaware of this situation or want to be brought up to date on the latest. The following summary comes from an entry on the MountVernonNews.com report authored today by Pamela Schehl:

“The school board last spring launched an investigation into allegations of professional misconduct by Freshwater, and the investigative report by an independent firm concluded that he caused physical harm to a student with a high frequency electrical generator during a science experiment, overstepped his bounds as a monitor of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, promoted particular religious beliefs in the classroom while denigrating others and was insubordinate in refusing to follow directives from school administrators.

“Freshwater, suspended without pay, requested a hearing to contest the board’s intent to terminate his teaching contract and maintains the board wants to fire him for simply keeping a personal Bible on his classroom desk.”

There is some question, in my mind at least, from what I know of the case, as to how unbiased the so-called “independent firm” had been in this case. After all, they were hired by the school board. There were quite a small number of students interviewed by the investigative team. To me the findings of the investigators seemed to be prejudiced against Mr. Freshwater.

The timing of the termination was also kind of questionable. Only after a parent of the child, who was alleged to have been “burned” or more likely “marked” by the Tesla coil, brought suit against the parties did Mr. Freshwater’s principal act in ordering him to remove what he felt were “religious” items from windows and Mr. Freshwater’s personal Bible from the top of his desk.

MORNING SESSION

Mount Vernon News reporter, Pamela Schehl indicated on her newspapers website that Mr. Jeff Maley, former Mount Vernon City Schools Superintended testified this morning. Part of the questioning had to do with the former superintendent’s knowledge of Freshwater’s proposal to teach evolution.

Dean Narcisco, Columbus Dispatch reporter, relayed the following account of Jeff Maley’s testimony in response to a hypothetical question, posed by Freshwater’s attorney, about evolution that might be brought up by a student in a science classroom, “(H)e’d expect a teacher to give a thoughtful but limited response and advise the student to instead to seek out parents for details.” Maley added, “I really believe that the religious beliefs of children should be impacted by their families."

Narcisco also related that Maley “defended the teacher as gifted at "conveying information to children."

Perhaps stepping across the line from reporting to editorializing, Narcisco conjectures, “But Freshwater's inability to separate his personal beliefs from his classroom instruction prompted complaints and an eventual standoff with the district. The reporter may have presumed this from Maley’s statement, which he quotes, "I believe that John, Mr. Freshwater, has a strong difficulty resolving his philosophical difficulties with the scientific community. I respect that struggle, by the way. He is very fervent about the issue of evolution being incorrect."

Besides the biased editorializing mentioned above, Narcisco mistakenly refers to Freshwater as being a ninth grade science teacher. He actually was an eighth grade teacher.

Since when can a man not have and express his personal beliefs and values anywhere and anytime? What ever happened to freedom to express one’s faith as expressed in article one of the Constitution? Apparently the state has taken that right away. However, those rights do not emanate from the state, but a endowed by our Creator. Here lies a basic problem with our current flawed and failing education system.

AFTERNOON SESSION

Seventh grade math teacher and fellow teacher of Mr. Freshwater at the Mount Vernon Middle School, Lori Miller’s, testimony began in the afternoon today and will be completed tomorrow.

In hearing her speak at the public session of past School Board meeting, Mrs. Miller spoke glowingly about Freshwater as a teacher, a person and role model for her and other teachers. She said that he had a deep love and concern for each of his children. He made each child feel welcome and special.

According to a second report of the day’s hearing on MountVernonNews.com, Lori Miller “talked about religious items in her classroom, described her use of a Tesla coil when she taught science, and outlined the efforts to reinstate the Fellowship of Christian Athletes at the Middle School.”

Freshwater Termination Hearing Day 14

Righting First Amendment Wrongs

I have been following this case for almost a year. You can read my previous posts here.

The termination hearing for Mount Vernon middle school science teacher John Freshwater resumed last Friday. Freshwater is the teacher accused of insubordination for refusing to take his personal bible off of his desk and subsequently for allegedly marking one of his students with a Tesla coil during a class science experiment.

Freshwater’s attorney, Kelly Hamilton had prepared several affidavits from several students. He was intending to have the parents of those students speak regarding those sworn statements. Mr. Freshwater preferred that the identities of those students not be made public. However, the school board’s attorney, David Millstone, objected to having the parents speak on behalf of their children. He argued that what they would say would be mere hearsay. The referee agreed and did not allow any of the parents to testify for the children.

The hearing was recessed Friday morning until Hamilton could get some of the students to leave school to testify personally. The hearing did take place Friday afternoon when three students did respond to attorneys questions.

The Mount Vernon News reported that the three students answered questions about their experiences in Mr. Freshwater's science class, speaking specifically to the use of a Tesla coil and whether religion was taught in the classroom.

Due to the unavailability of additional witnesses, the hearing was adjourned until March 20.

STUDENTS TESTIFY

Saturday’s (2/28/09) Mount Vernon News records the testimony of one of Mr. Freshwater’s 8th grade science students from the last school year. Corbin Heck, the student, said that he had taken part in the Tesla coil event. He recalled feeling a “brief tickle” when the coil touched is arm. He indicated that it did leave a slight mark on his arm afterwards. In addition Heck said that he “sort of laughed” when he saw the photos of the alleged marks left by the “burning” or “branding” of Zach Dennis, whose parent brought suit against the School Board and Mr. Freshwater.

Heck is quoted by the Mount Vernon newspaper reporter as saying, “This is more dramatic than what I saw on anybody else’s arm and I didn’t see it on Zach’s arm [at the time].” Furthermore, Heck revealed that Zach Dennis even laughed when the coil was applied to Zach’s arm.

This first hand account by a fellow student seems to strongly point to a serious exaggeration or embellishment or even some potentially falsified photographs on the part of Zach Dennis. Those photographs depicted something very much different than what young Heck saw. Something is very fishy.

COMMENT

The testimony of Corbin Heck Friday was very damning to the allegations made by Zach Dennis. Perhaps the additional testimonies of more students will shed greater light on what actually happened in Mr. Freshwater’s class surrounding the alleged misuse of the Tesla coil by Mr. Freshwater.

From what I can deduce from the 14 days of hearings this hearing was absolutely necessary to counteract what appears to be a deliberate railroading of Mr. Freshwater by the school and school board.

In this day when schools and education is such a great failure they education elite or hierarchy wants to drive excellent, people of faith and character out of the classroom as they successfully did with God and the Bible in the 1960s. Is there any wonder that violence, hatred, lack of discipline, increased drop out rates, poor rest results and lack of learning prevails in most schools today?

This case is a strong argument for funding of alternative to the hopeless government schools. Otherwise education will remain second-rate.

The following sources provide more of a first hand accounts of what went on in the hearing on Friday. Mr. Hoppe’s account is especially detailed and seems somewhat objective.

SOURCES

Students testify at teacher's hearing, http://www.mountvernonnews.com/local/09/02/28/students-testify-at-teachers-hearing

Freshwater Day 14: “He taught both sides” and questioning the text,
http://pandasthumb.org/archives/2009/02/freshwater-day-9.html#more

Freshwater Termination Hearing afternoon update
http://www.mountvernonnews.com/local/09/02/27/freshwater-afternoon-update

Days 11, 12 & 13 of the John Freshwater Inquisition

Righting First Amendment Wrongs

This post is a summary of this week's contract hearing of John Freshwater. The YouTube video by MountVernon1805 gives a glimpse of the physical surroundings of where the case is being held and a peek at Mr. Freshwater and his attorney, Kelly Hamilton.

Cameras barred from Freshwater hearing


The John Freshwater contract hearing resumed this past Wednesday and continued through Friday of this week. See my previous articles and comments regarding this case, including the first ten days of the hearing, which were held last October and restarted earlier this month. The hearing was expected to conclude this week. However, it was not completed and will resume on February 20th at 11:00 AM in Mount Vernon.

We had some frigid weather here in Ohio this past week, but the hearings resumed. One day the hearing was delayed because the Referee had a flat tire (Wednesday) and because Mr. Freshwater’s attorney was tied up in court (Thursday). I had a chance to attend part of the hearing on Friday after my eye doctor’s appointment. I will base my summary from newspaper and blog accounts of Wednesday and Thursday and the first part of Friday and then I will give a first hand account of what transpired late morning through the afternoon session on Friday.

DAY 11

John Freshwater’s 15-year old daughter, Jordan, testified on Wednesday. She said, ““I know a lot of truth and I think it should be share,” when asked why she or other Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) students should have been asked by the school board appointed Investigator. Pamela Schehl, Mount Vernon News reporter, who covered the hearing, wrote “Jordan described her father as an ‘out-of-the-box’ person and teacher who likes adventures and makes things fun. She said he is involved in a lot of things in the community, and that former students often approach him in the community and thank him and say, “I love science” because of being in Freshwater’s class.”

Two teachers were called upon to testify. Dino D’Ettorre was asked about the Tesla coil. Schehl reported in part, “(D’Ettorre) said he would demonstrate it on his own arm as an example and talk with students about safety factors such as making sure the power level was on low. If student volunteers so desired, D’Ettorre said, he would touch the arc to their arms, never the device itself. He also said he told students it may or may not leave a mark on their skin, but any mark would not be permanent or stay long.” This testimony seems to contradict the claim by Zach Dennis, the student who was allegedly “branded” by Freshwater.

Eighth grade Special Ed and Reading teacher Barb Spitzer, according to Pam Schehl made the following assertion, “She testified that she at one time was in Freshwater’s class every day and never heard him discuss religion in class or read the Bible with students present.” In regard to Freshwater’s teaching style and approach to work Spitzer said that he “Was hands-on and student oriented,. . . highly ambitious and always willing to do more than what is required, and willing to modify assignments and lessons, if need be, to help students understand them.”

DAY 12

The entire day was devoted to testimony of Deborah Strouse, she was the monitor assigned by the school board superintendent to Mr. Freshwater during his last six weeks of the 2007-2008 school year. Mr. Freshwater’s attorney took a chance when he had her testify.

MountVernon1805 posted an excellent summary of the day 12 on the AccountabilityInTheMedia blog (see “Inside John Freshwater’s Classroom.”) The writer made this unusual, but telling statement, “Strouse’s testimony at Thursday’s hearing sounded like she was endorsing Freshwater for teacher-of-the-year.” Furthermore, the blog writer concluded, “Strouse said that as a teacher, she was jealous of Freshwater. He made every person feel important. He was able to connect a science concept to the things the students would bring up in class. Strouse said that students will work harder if they know the teacher believes in them.”

DAY 13

It was Friday, day 13, of this long, drawn-out hearing. I missed the morning session by just a few minutes. A deputy met me in the office outside of the hearing room and said that I had to wait until there was a break. The referee did not want the hearing interrupted. I had time to eat breakfast at the local Bob Evans Restaurant and to read several chapters of Chuck Norris’ book, Black Belt Patriotism, How to Reawaken America. Ironically, on page 94 of Norris’ book he wrote,

“If America’s founding fathers had no problem with the Bible being taught in taxpayer-supported schools, why do we? The Bible is the most influential book in Western civilization. It is the most important book undergirding American law and literature. To prohibit it from our nation’s classrooms is a blatant and biased withholding of proper public instruction.

“It is time for every parent, teacher, and school district to answer in the affirmative the question of Fisher Ames, who assisted in the creation of the First Amendment. . .: ‘Should not the Bible regain the place it once held as a school book?'

“Our Founding Fathers would respond with a resounding yes.”

That is what much of this case is about. First, the right of a teacher to have his personal Bible on his desk, second to be able to display posters that might have an inspirational Bible verse on it, and the right or freedom to teach that evolution has weaknesses and there are alternate explanations to origin of life other than evolution. These explanations are just as scientific or just as logical as that deeply flawed theory of evolution.

A DOZEN WITNESSES . . . SO HELP ME GOD

When the referee administered the oath to each witness before his or her testimony, he said to the affect, "Do you swear or affirm that the testimony you will provide is true?" Something was missing . . . Each time I heard that oath being administered I wanted to shout, ". . . So help me God." That same something has been missing from our schools as well as our courtrooms for quite some time. That is truly shameful.

There were 12 witnesses who took the stand on Friday. Three of them were in the first session, which I did not attend. Ten others were questioned between 11:30 AM and 4:00 PM. I did hear these testimonies. Most of the witnesses were current teachers or counselors in the Mount Vernon City Middle School or High School.

For most of the witnesses Mr. Freshwater’s attorney had the same line of questioning. These included:

· Where you interviewed by the Investigator, HR on-call?
· Are you aware of the school’s policy on religion?
· Have you received any training in ‘religion in the classroom’ from the school?
· How do you handle a question if it comes up in class regarding the meaning of Easter or Good Friday?
· Have you seen Bibles on the desks of teachers at Mount Vernon City Schools?
· Have you seen the George Bush – Colin Powell Poster with a scripture verse in any classroom? What other ‘religious’ articles have you observed?
· Do you have to submit lesson plans? If so, what is the purpose of these plans?
· Do you have any knowledge regarding the Tesla coil?
· What teaching aids do you use in class? Are there any restrictions in their use?

My observations and conclusions include the fact that many of the teachers, who had first had knowledge of John Freshwater, who may have been supportive or at least objective about his situation, where not included in interviews by the Investigator, HR On-Call. Most of the teachers did not have or could not remember having training in ‘religion in the classroom’ and were not aware of specific school policies. There were and still are Bibles and ‘religious objects’ in the classrooms of some of the Mount Vernon City Schools. Lesson plans are used by teachers and administrators to see if teachers are staying on track. The Tesla coil has been used widely by science teachers in Mount Vernon City Schools as a basic teaching tool without any apparent problems or safety concerns. Little or no training in the proper use of the Tesla coil was received. Teachers are given wide flexibility as to what to teach, how to teach and what outside resources that they can use.

Overall, I did not observe any testimony that could be considered damaging to Mr. Freshwater’s case. In fact, most of the testimony supported Mr. Freshwater.

FOR FURTHER REFERENCE

Mount Vernon News Articles: Day 11, Day 12, Day 13
Columbus Dispatch Articles: Day 11, Day 12, Day 13
Support Freshwater website: http://supportfreshwater.com/
AccountabilityInTheMedia blog: http://accountabilityinthemedia.blogspot.com/
Panda's Thumb blog: http://pandasthumb.org/

Days 9 & 10 of the John Freshwater Inquisition

Righting First Amendment Wrongs

The John Freshwater contract hearing resumed on Tuesday and continued through Friday of this week. See my previous articles and comments regarding this case, including the first eight days of the hearing, which were held last October and restarted on Tuesday of this week.

Both the largely liberal Columbus Dispatch and the local Mount Vernon News newspapers have consistently had reporters present during the four days of hearings this week. Since I was not present I am relying on those accounts for much of the background information. One of the writers, Richard Hoppe, on the Panda’s Thumb weblog has also had a series of articles which have covered much of the hearings. He has also been present during the hearings.

This case is all about whether our government schools really want our children to learn or whether they are more interested in indoctrinating our children to a particularly politically correct, agenda-driven liberal worldview. Why else would they be so adamant in getting rid of an outstanding teacher, one who was loved by his students and one who in turn loved his students? Why is it seemingly illegal or “’disastrously unfair’ to science students” or “very damaging to learning process” or “damaging to science education” to challenge or even question the deeply flawed theory of evolution in the public classroom? The movie, Expelled, sheds light on the answer to that question.

The Darwin’s evolution theory is itself unscientific, yet it is touted to be the end-all and be-all. Why is the educational bureaucracy so afraid of any threat to evolution explanation for life exclusivity? Because that construct is foundational to the destructive, godless, secular humanistic, liberal philosophical worldview. The educational elite and the leftists, social engineers and the Marxists in America see the transformation of the thinking of our children as key to complete takeover of America. Evidence the results of the November election. We elected a thoroughly unprepared, Marxist-oriented, political pawn of the George Soros’ MoveOn.org mindset, who tricked the populace into thinking he would bring change and would offer hope for the future. All that he will bring will be the Jimmy Carter failed policies that will lead to the eventual destruction of America as we know it.

DAY 9

According to the Mount Vernon News reporter Pamela Schehl, there were three witnesses on Thursday, Day 9 of the Freshwater contract hearing. All three witnesses testified regarding the handouts which Mr. Freshwater used in his science class, which they all felt denigrated the theory of evolution. All three witnesses supported the school board’s position. The school board’s attorney had 7th grade science teacher Bill Oxenford demonstrate the use of the Tesla coil for the hearing referee and those present. Oxenford had used this same devise as a teaching aid in the past, however, he stated he had not used it for at least 10 years. He felt that it was too dangerous.

On a very positive note, the Columbus Dispatch article covering Day 9 reported that Oxenford conceded that “Freshwater's class scored higher than the other science classes despite having the highest number of special needs students.” So how much of a deterrent or detriment to learning was the questioning of evolution by Mr. Freshwater?

DAY 10

According to the Mount Vernon News’ Pamela Schehl, “Dr. Patricia Princehouse, lecturer in philosophy and evolutionary biology at Case Western Reserve University, was Friday’s sole witness.” Princehouse also provided an analysis of the handouts, which Mr. Freshwater used in his science classes. She she opined that the handout were “inappropriate.” In essence she stated that any reference or explanation of origins using Intelligent Design (ID) and Creationism would not be scientific. If those two explanations for the origin of life and natural order are not acceptable science, than neither is evolution.

The Dispatch reporter, Dean Narciso, pointed out that Princehouse testified when the Ohio Department of Education was deciding whether to permit public schools to teach "intelligent design" six years ago. Her bias and position was clear, she was an adamant support of evolution. She claimed that ID and Creationism were “religious” and not scientific explanation. Again, I contend that evolution, too, is a religious (secular-humanist man-is-god religion).

It seems to me that the school board has waged a costly battle against Freshwater. Engaging an expert witness such as Princehouse surely must cost a pretty penny.

The hearing is scheduled to continue next Wednesday through Friday.

RESOURCES

Mount Vernon News Articles: Day 9, Day 10
Columbus Dispatch Articles: Day 9, Day 10
Support Freshwater website: http://supportfreshwater.com/
Panda's Thumb blog: http://pandasthumb.org/