The American Rights Movement

Once upon a time, public schools actually taught American civics. Once upon a time, educators would not be fired for engaging in private political expression about a presidential election.

Those times are past. The public school system has become overrun by left wing bureaucrats who have no fidelity to freedom nor respect for the US Constitution. Where Animal Farm was once taught as a warning about creeping tyranny, it is now being used as an instruction manual by the left on how to eradicate any expression they disagree with in public schools.

In the past few months, several brave public educators have come forward to Francis Alexander LLC with depressingly similar stories: They engaged in private expression outside their work. When the left wing superintendents and boards found out that they had expressed conservative opinions, they were disciplined without notice or warning, told they were offensive, and coerced into giving up their careers. Below are the stories of Ashley Bennett and Amy Sacks, represented by Francis Alexander LLC. If something similar has happened to you, please contact us.

Jason Moorehead

Jason Moorehead worked for 17 years as a social studies teacher for the Allentown School District and has a spotless record.

He attended the Trump rally at the Washington Monument on January 6, 2021. He never left the Monument, was peaceful, and was never anywhere near the Capitol Building.

He posted a photo of himself at the rally. He was carrying the Revolutionary War Flag “Join, or Die.” Later, he saw a post on Twitter which stated “Don’t worry, the Capitol is insured,” which was mocking the hypocrisy of the Left given the excuses made over the summer for the widespread damage caused by riots. He responded to the post only stating, “This.”

The next day, the School District and Superintendent suspended him without warning. They also blasted out a press release falsely and defamatorily claiming he was “involved in the electoral college protest that took place at the United States Capitol Building.” The defamatory statement is on the District's website, was sent out by email to all staff, and went out by Facebook and Twitter. In fact, he was never closer than one mile to the Capitol Building and had nothing to do with what happened there. The press release further claimed that he had also been suspended because of “emotion and controversy stirred by the events.” They then told him to retain criminal defense counsel. He was never consulted before any of this was done to get his side of the story.

Following this, the District’s Solicitor told the press that Jason could be disciplined because the District thought he was “un-American” and “subversive"--further reinforcing the false accusation he had been at the Capitol Building. This is obviously nonsense, but it shows that the District politically disagrees with Jason’s viewpoint and political affiliation and retaliated against him for that reason. Essentially, the District created a false narrative and then ran with it without even checking any facts.

They haven't corrected anything they disseminated in the ensuing weeks, despite knowing that they have defamed him. Jason’s life has been destroyed and people falsely think he was inside the Capitol Building. He's gotten vile threats to have him killed and find him at his home.

Jason is seeking justice not only for himself, but to make sure that more teachers and administrators are not unconstitutionally attacked by their governmental employers.

Ashley Bennett

Ashley is a longtime public school administrator who was Supervisor of Special Education at North Penn School District. She loved her job. She also fought for equality and diversity at North Penn both in hiring and in her department.

In June 2020, Ashley shared a Facebook post which pointed out that the controversial Black Lives Matter movement was overwhelmingly left wing and ignored the rights and tribulations of black conservatives, black police officers, black businesses hurt by rioting, and aborted black children. It decried the one sided political correctness strangling political debates.

When the District and Board found out they immediately suspended her, ignoring her right to free speech and her right to due process. They actually endorsed Black Lives Matter in response, publicly defamed and blasted Ashley in the press as a racist, while outrageously telling her that she had to keep everything confidential. They interrogated her for days about her political beliefs--a scene out of third world banana republic--only to tell her that they had already decided to get rid of her and threatened her that if she tried to contest anything they would ruin her career forever. Knowing that there was no way to return to her job in such a hostile environment where the District has publicly defamed her as a racist, and because she was not getting fairly treated by the District, she was forced and coerced to quit. At no point was due process followed nor were her free speech rights recognized. She has now filed a lawsuit which is being prosecuted by Francis Alexander LLC.

Amy Sacks

Dr. Amy Sacks was Principal of Evergreen Elementary School in the Perkiomen Valley School District. She is a third generation resident and dedicated member of the community. Amy actively used her Facebook and posted on a range of topics, including personal posts but also conservative memes about the presidential election and rioting over the summer of 2020. In June 2020, she was told to come to a routine year-end evaluation by the superintendent Dr. Barbara Russell to discuss her school's performance and ideas for the future. It was a bait-and-switch ambush. The Superintendent instead laid out 15 cherry picked memes, said they were offensive, and that the Board had already decided to terminate her as principal. She threatened Amy that if she cooperated, the District might not terminate her entirely, only severely demote her. Amy was in fact terminated and demoted. She found Francis Alexander LLC and is now pursuing a case of her own.