Westview High banner case heading for Supreme Court
By Pat Kumpan
A Michigan law firm representing a Poway Unified School District teacher is petitioning the U.S. Supreme Court to hear a case about patriotic banners that have been banned from hanging in the educator’s classroom.
PUSD, however, believes the removal of the banners in teacher Bradley Johnson’s classroom is consistent with the requirements of the United States Constitution, said Jack Sleeth, counsel for the district.
The district acted correctly in 2007, “holding that public school teachers do not have a First Amendment right to say anything they want when teaching to a captive student audience,” Sleeth said.
That lower court decision sided with PUSD in its objection to Johnson displaying banners conveying a religious message in the classroom.
Johnson, an educator for more than 30 years, teaches calculus at Westview High School.
In 2007, PUSD asked Johnson to remove his banners, which said “In God We Trust,” “All Men Are Created Equal, They Are Endowed By Their Creator” and others, he said.
One of his first banners was hung up in 1982, when he taught at another PUSD school, Mt. Carmel High School.
That would make it about a 25-year span before the district, or anyone else objected to the banners, which he says, “highlights the religious heritage of our nation.”
In 2010, attorney Robert Muise with the Thomas More Law Center in Michigan represented Johnson in a suit against PUSD.
In that decision, Roger Benitez, a Federal District Court judge, sided with Johnson and said the banners could go back up.
The judge stated, “The school district does a disservice to the students of Westview High School — and the federal and state constitutions do not permit this one-sided censorship.”
Johnson said that his students never complained about the banners and when they were aware the sayings were going back up, “They stood up and clapped.”
Other PUSD teachers have been allowed to hang Tibetan prayer flags, a photo of Mahatma Gandhi and Gandhi’s “7 Social Sins” and similar expressions, Johnson said.
Last September the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the lower court’s decision and ordered the banners be taken down after all the judicial paperwork was filed.
Just prior to Westview’s winter break this past December, Johnson removed the banners, with the understanding that he had one final hope — a chance for the Supreme Court to weigh in on the decision.
It could be months from now, but Johnson said the Supreme Court will probably be his last effort to resolve the issue — is the removal of the banners a violation of his rights.
“It depends on the Supreme Court, if they want to hear the case,” Johnson said. “Different circuit courts have ruled differently around the country (on similar cases).
“I feel this is a case that deserves to be heard,” Johnson said. “It could be the one that could clarify a decision for others as well.”
Related posts:
- Court supports PUSD directing teacher to remove banners from classroom; teacher to appeal decision
- Mangum: The legal fight over banners in a classroom
- Mangum: Readers ask questions about religion in the classroom
- Whose religion should the PUSD promote?
- Letters to the editor: Sept. 29, 2011
Short URL: http://www.pomeradonews.com/?p=20972
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I have to question the objectivity of this article. In the first sentence, Pat Kumpan uses the term "patriotic banners". The issue here is that some are questioning whether these banners, and Mr. Johnson's intentions in hanging them, are "patriotic"–so this first sentence can imply that the article's author is already taking sides. Also, though we hear much of Mr. Johnson's side of the story, we hear little of the opposing view. The article would be better balanced if it offered more of the opposing view and included the reason why the "9th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the lower court’s decision and ordered the banners be taken down after all the judicial paperwork was filed."
btw: I support the PUSDs decision to have the banners removed. Mr. Johnson is a math teacher, not a history, civics, or world religions teacher. He is also an employee and if the PUSD wants to establish rules for hanging banners in the classroom (even after 25 years) they have the authority to do so.
If you saw the size of Johnson's banners relative to his classroom it was so obvious he's trying to stir up trouble. His message wasn't noticed years ago when the God/Govt. issue wasn't a big sore. His banners likely weren't as big and bold back then. They were probably just patriotic with a little God message. Now he's feels he has to declare war on secularism and government supported pc. He wants to push it in the governments face with an obvious, political attack. We get his point – but a government employer doesn't have to do anything a private employer doesn't want to do with political speech. He'll lose. The banners will stay down and the battle lines will remain. He always has the option of hanging the banners on the front of his house.
Are they up yet?