From: atropos@mac.com   
      
   On Feb 15, 2026 at 4:56:31 PM PST, "shawn"    
   wrote:   
      
   > On Mon, 16 Feb 2026 00:11:20 -0000 (UTC), BTR1701    
   > 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.   
      
   >> 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-ou   
   -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.   
      
   > 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.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)