On Feb 15, 2026 at 6:40:42 PM PST, "shawn" <
nanoflower@notforg.m.a.i.l.com> wrote:
On Mon, 16 Feb 2026 01:24:08 -0000 (UTC), BTR1701 <atropos@mac.com>
wrote:
On Feb 15, 2026 at 4:56:31 PM PST, "shawn" <nanoflower@notforg.m.a.i.l.com> >> wrote:
On Mon, 16 Feb 2026 00:11:20 -0000 (UTC), BTR1701 <atropos@mac.com>
wrote:
These protocol-communist teachers are allowed to tweet and protest and >>>> scream
obscenities at and about the police all day, they can even put anti-ICE >>>> propaganda on the walls of their classroom, but one teacher takes the >>>> opposite
viewpoint and he loses his job.
How is that even remotely legal? The government is now telling its employees
that they can only express their political opinions in public if they >>>> support
the government's views?
I don't know the rules in IL. but if it's a right to work state (what
a name) there's nothing illegal about it. Though I suppose the union
could fight it but probably won't.
When the employer is the government, the 1st Amendment becomes involved.
But the claim won't have anything to do with what he said. Just the
community reaction which they will claim something like it is creating
a hostile work environment and a distraction from their mission of
teaching the students. Likely unjustified but an easy work around to
get rid of the teacher.
Which will only result in a big cash award for the teacher. I don't know why a district would consider throwing a significant chunk of their yearly budget away on a lawsuit settlement to be the 'easy' way to deal with this. Anyone
who treats taxpayer money so cavalierly should be immediately removed from their job.
Either prohibit political activism for all school staff or allow it
regardless of opinion. Can't have it both ways. Not legally, anyway.
Heidorn should
contact FIRE or the IFF, see if they will take his case. I'd say the ACLU,
but they rarely take a case these days if the client isn't a far-left >>>> 'progressive'.
----------------------------------
https://nypost.com/2026/02/15/us-news/james-heidorn-speaks-out-after-losing-career-over-two-word-online-post/
A veteran Chicago-area gym teacher was pushed out of his job over a two-word
social-media post in support of ICE and calls the experience devastating and
surreal.
To be clear it wasn't the post. It was the community reaction to the
post that got him fired. Which is certainly unfair
Not just unfair, it's what the Supreme Court calls a heckler's veto and has >> been very clear that it's not a valid excuse for government suppression or >> punishment of speech.
Doesn't stop them from doing it and by the time it gets resolved in a
court everyone will have moved on.
And the district will be considerably poorer as a result. And perhaps as part of the settlement negotiations, the teacher demands that the school principal and any other district staff that had a hand in firing him be themselves fired as an object lesson as to what happens to managers who violate the constitutional rights of the employees.
if that is all he
did, but also understandable as I'm sure the school just wanted the
controversy gone and this was the quickest solution.
Too bad. The 1st Amendment's protections do not wax and wane based on what is
convenient for government administrators.
James Heidorn, a "beloved" longtime educator at Gary Elementary School in >>>> West
Chicago, came under heavy fire by hysterical community activists and local
lawmakers when he wrote "GO ICE" on Facebook last month in response to a >>>> news
story about local cops pledging to cooperate with immigration enforcement.
"This process has been professionally and personally devastating and
surreal,"
Heidorn told Fox News Digital on Sunday. "I've spent 14 years building my >>>> career, pouring my heart into teaching kids, building relationships and >>>> being
a positive role model. To see it all upended over two simple words where I
expressed my personal support for law enforcement felt like a severe blow to
my career."
He was also clearly oblivious to where he lived/taught and how people
are reacting to any mention of ICE. Of course a Hispanic community
would react badly to saying such a thing.
Again, such things are not even a part of the legal analysis. Heckler's vetos
are not a valid reason for government punishment of speech. Among other
things, that leads to exactly this situation, where only one side of an issue
is allowed to speak freely.
But by the time those legal issues are resolved it won't matter. I
mean maybe the teacher will win some money but he will have gotten
another job, likely in more friendly state to his view on ICE. Instead
of being able to go back to his job at the school where he had made
all of those connections. It's the sad fact that our legal system
always moves slowly.
People who sue over stuff like this often have reinstatement and back pay as a condition of settlement, so no, it's not a forgone conclusion that it won't matter.
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