You may remember the case of John Freshwater, a middle school science teacher from central Ohio who became a cause célèbre among fundies when he was fired in 2011 for teaching creationism as science. Freshwater, a devout Pentecostal, has maintained that he was fired just for keeping a Bible on his desk. Last November, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled his firing was justified. Now Freshwater is trying to get the federal Supreme Court to force the Ohio court to reconsider the case.
The Mount Vernon School Board dismissed him (Freshwater) in 2011 over accusations that he preached his Christian beliefs to students.
The Ohio Supreme Court ruled last November the school district was right to fire him for refusing to remove those materials.
But that court also ruled the school should not have forced him to remove his personal Bible from his desk.
Freshwater's attorney Rita Dunaway said the case's "most significant constitutional issues" still need to be resolved.
The Mount Vernon News obtained a copy of Freshwater's brief.
Read it here.
While Freshwater portrays himself as a victim of persecution, the truth is somewhat less rosy. The Mount Vernon school board began the process of firing him in 2008 mainly because he was doing a crappy job.
One high school teacher said she consistently had to reteach evolution to Mr. Freshwater’s students because they did not master the basics. Another testified that Mr. Freshwater told his students they should not always take science as fact, citing as an example a study that posited the possibility of a gene for homosexuality.
“Science is wrong,” Mr. Freshwater was reported as saying, “because the Bible states that homosexuality is a sin, and so anyone who is gay chooses to be gay and is therefore a sinner.”
A third teacher testified that Mr. Freshwater advised students to refer to the Bible for additional science research.
Freshwater was also under fire for burning a cross onto the arm of two of his students with a Tesla coil. The family of one of the students, Zachary Dennis, sued Freshwater and the school district in the spring of 2008. According to
Freshwater's Wikipedia article, the school board ultimately settled for $450,000, plus attorney's fees. While the case was underway, Freshwater and his then-lawyer, Kelly Hamilton, were rebuked by the judge for failing to turn over evidence and reading a confidential settlement offer at a school board meeting. Freshwater ultimately had to reimburse the Dennises for legal expenses incurred as a result of his behavior.
If the Christianists are hoping for a battle royale over religious freedom, they're likely going to be disappointed. In fact, I would think the velocity with which cert is denied in this case would create quite the breeze. If the Supremes do take this, I don't see a route to victory for Freshwater. This kind of behavior would seemingly be a bridge too far even for Scalia, Thomas and Alito.