Ohio Supreme Court Over 3 Dissents Refuses To Reconsider Science Teacher's Firing

In November, the Ohio Supreme Court, in a 4-3 decision, upheld the firing of middle school science teacher John Freshwater for insubordination in failing to comply with orders to remove religious materials from his classroom. (See prior posting.) On Wednesday, the Ohio Supreme Court denied a motion for reconsideration, but the same 3 justices who dissented originally also dissented from the refusal to reconsider. In Freshwater v. Mt. Vernon School District Board of Education, (OH Sup. Ct., Jan. 22, 2014), Justice O'Donnell filed a dissenting  opinion (joined by Justices Pfeifer and Kennedy) saying: "This case now stands as a basis for school boards to violate the constitutional rights of veteran teachers and to terminate them for insignificant reasons."