Supreme Court denies appeal in Freshwater case

On Monday the U.S. Supreme Court denied John Freshwater's petition for certiorari. The unsigned order does not provide explanation or comment.

"I am extremely disappointed," Freshwater's attorney Rita Dunaway told AccountabilityInTheMedia.com, "that the injustice done to Mr. Freshwater has been left standing. It is important, however, for people to understand that the High Court’s denial of certiorari does not in any way represent an endorsement of the conclusions reached by the majority of the Ohio Supreme Court."

The Ohio Supreme Court found, in a 4-3 ruling, that the Mount Vernon Board of Education was justified in firing Freshwater from his job as a teacher at Mount Vernon City Schools. The sole ground for the court's ruling was that Freshwater was insubordinate for having two library books and a poster of George W. Bush in his classroom.

The appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court was a hundred-to-one shot.

According to Answers.com, "In 2009, the U.S. Supreme Court received 7,738 requests for case review, called a Petition for a Writ of Certiorari. Because the volume of cases is so high, and there are only nine Justices on the Court, only 1-2% (75-150 cases) of the submitted petitions are granted certiorari."

Dr. Margie Bennett, president of the school board, told AccountabilityInTheMedia.com, "I hope that our school district and community may now finally lay this issue to rest and focus 100% of our attention on our students."

See the articles in the archive for additional coverage of the Freshwater controversy.