{"id":1804052,"date":"2023-01-12T15:51:09","date_gmt":"2023-01-12T20:51:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1804052"},"modified":"2023-01-12T15:52:16","modified_gmt":"2023-01-12T20:52:16","slug":"how-a-science-teachers-maga-hat-led-to-a-viral-court-case","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/how-a-science-teachers-maga-hat-led-to-a-viral-court-case\/","title":{"rendered":"How a Science Teacher&#8217;s MAGA Hat Led to a Viral Court Case"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fhow-a-science-teachers-maga-hat-led-to-a-viral-court-case%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1804052&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47-->\n<div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/100-10-44\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" alt=\"image\"   style=\"display:none\"><\/div>\n<p>Eric Dodge, a science teacher decided to wear a hat. \u201cMake America Great Again\u201d hat to a teacher training, he probably didn\u2019t expect to wind up defending his constitutional rights years later before a federal appeals court. But that\u2019s what happened \u2014 and the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals<br \/>\n<a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/restoring-america\/equality-not-elitism\/teacher-who-wore-maga-hat-protected-by-first-amendment\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Just vindicated his freedom of speech rights<\/a>\n<\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s the<br \/>\n<a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/reason.com\/volokh\/2022\/12\/29\/teacher-can-proceed-with-first-amendment-lawsuit-over-threatened-punishment-for-wearing-maga-hat-to-training\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Backstory<\/a><br \/>\n. Dodge was a Washington teacher since the 1970s. In advance of the 2019-2020 school year, he was required to attend a teachers\u2019 training focused on diversity and inclusion. He brought a red MAGA cap with him, wore it outdoors, and displayed it along with his personal belongings during the training.<\/p>\n<p><b><br \/>\n<a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/restoring-america\/equality-not-elitism\/teacher-who-wore-maga-hat-protected-by-first-amendment\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">MAGA HAT TEACHER TO SCHOOL PROTECTED BY FIRST EDITMENT, COURT REGULATIONS<\/a><br \/>\n<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Later, the instructor complained that she felt uncomfortable. \u201cintimidated and traumatized\u201d by the hat and several teachers were upset about it with one crying and another feeling it. \u201cthreatening.\u201d However, you are the judge<br \/>\n<a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov\/datastore\/opinions\/2022\/12\/29\/21-35400.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Notes<\/a><br \/>\n: \u201cThere is no allegation that Dodge did anything with his hat during the training other than place it near him with his other things, nor is there any allegation that he did anything to interfere with or disrupt the training.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Principal Caroline Garrett reprimanded Dodge and instructed him not to wear it again. He didn&#8217;t comply and brought the hat to another day of training. Garrett threatened him with adverse employment consequences for continuing to wear the hat and told him that he would have to bring his union representative next time they discuss this.<\/p>\n<p>Garrett sued and claimed that all of this violated his First Amendment rights. The court agreed last month.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhile some of the training attendees may have been outraged or offended by plaintiff\u2019s political expression, no evidence of actual or tangible disruption to school operations had been presented,\u201d Judge Danielle J. Forrest<br \/>\n<a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov\/datastore\/opinions\/2022\/12\/29\/21-35400.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Write<\/a><br \/>\n. \u201cThat some may not like the political message being conveyed is par for the course and cannot itself be a basis for finding disruption of a kind that outweighs the speaker\u2019s First Amendment rights.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The judge also pointed to the obvious double standard at school. Garrett allowed a \u201cBlack Lives Matter\u201d School will display your post<br \/>\n<a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/fee.org\/articles\/is-black-lives-matter-marxist-no-and-yes\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Political<\/a><br \/>\n message reaching students and not only staff). She dismissed the concern expressed by a teacher, who was married to an officer and found the message disturbing. Garrett proudly displayed a bumper stickers supporting Sen. Bernie Sanders (I VT) on her vehicle on school grounds.<\/p>\n<p>But that\u2019s different, she insists, because she <i>Likes<\/i> Those are my opinions.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhile the Black Lives Matter poster is a symbol of cultural acceptance and inclusivity \u2026 Mr. Dodge&#8217;s MAGA hat is a symbol commonly associated with white supremacy and other anti-immigrant sentiments,\u201d she<br \/>\n<a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/reason.com\/volokh\/2022\/12\/29\/teacher-can-proceed-with-first-amendment-lawsuit-over-threatened-punishment-for-wearing-maga-hat-to-training\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><\/a><br \/>\n. \u201cComparing an innocuous bumper sticker and a racially supportive poster to the MAGA hat is troglodytic and unacquainted with the affairs of the world.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This is, however, a subjective interpretation of the symbolism behind a MAGA Hat (and in my view, an absurd one). Countless Republicans would say that a MAGA hat doesn\u2019t mean any of that to them and that they aren\u2019t endorsing \u201cwhite supremacy\u201d You won&#8217;t be able to live with it. And many other people might find Garrett\u2019s left-leaning political messages deeply offensive on the issues of abortion, police lives, and more. Some might argue that Sanders stickers are a symbol for the mass murder of unborn babies and socialist authoritarianism.<br \/>\n<a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/100-years-of-communismand-100-million-dead-1510011810\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">100 million people killed<\/a><br \/>\n.<\/p>\n<p>But this school gave in to the tyranny and feelings. Instead of telling those who felt it, he decided to do the opposite. \u201ctraumatized\u201d Oder \u201cthreatened\u201d by a hat to seek professional help and work on their emotional frailty to bring their functionality up to adult level, it enabled a heckler\u2019s veto that would undermine free speech for all. For the same reasons, a pro-Biden-loving teacher could see their hat censored in a more conservative region. Are these the ideal worlds they want to live in? Where your speech is subject to the opinions of those around you?<\/p>\n<p>Yes, teachers don\u2019t have unlimited rights to subject their <i>Students<\/i> to political messages. However, their First Amendment rights are available to them in relation to staff interactions and other work-related matters, as their employer is the government.<\/p>\n<p>This ruling is a victory for free speech, no matter how much you like or dislike former President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n<p><b><br \/>\n<a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\">CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION FROM THE WASHINGTON XAMINER<\/a><br \/>\n<\/b><\/p>\n<p><i>Brad Polumbo (<br \/>\n<a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/brad_polumbo\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">@Brad_Polumbo<\/a><br \/>\n) is a co-founder of<br \/>\n<a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.based-politics.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Based-Politics.com<\/a><br \/>\nCo-host of The <\/i>Based Politics<i><br \/>\n<a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/based-politics\/id1535704082\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">podcast<\/a><br \/>\n, and <\/i>Washington Examiner <i>contributor.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Eric Dodge, a science teacher decided to wear a hat. \u201cMake America Great Again\u201d hat to a teacher training, he probably didn\u2019t expect to wind up defending his constitutional rights years later before a federal appeals court. But that\u2019s what happened \u2014 and the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Just vindicated his freedom of &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1804055,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[547],"tags":[5458,4733,9267,7456,5656,3819,4613,4605,6143],"class_list":["post-1804052","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-bongino-report","tag-bongino","tag-court","tag-hat","tag-led","tag-maga","tag-report","tag-science","tag-teachers","tag-viral"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1804052","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1804052"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1804052\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1804055"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1804052"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1804052"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1804052"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}