One day after the ACLU of Colorado filed a lawsuit against the Woodland Park School District (WPSD) for violating the constitutional rights of Logan Ruths, a vocal critic of the district, the district lifted its “unlawful banishment order” it imposed on Ruths for speaking out at a public meeting, the ACLU announced in a release today, Aug. 7.
— Read on www.csindy.com/content/tncms/live/
Tag Archives: free speech
Statement Regarding Woodland Park School District Rescinding its Unconstitutional Banishment Order Against Vocal Critic of the District | ACLU Colorado
After the ACLU of Colorado filed a lawsuit against the Woodland Park School District (WPSD) for violating the constitutional rights of Logan Ruths, a vocal critic of the district, WPSD responded by lifting the unlawful banishment order…
— Read on www.aclu-co.org/en/news/statement-regarding-woodland-park-school-district-rescinding-its-unconstitutional-banishment
Woodland Park School District lifts ban against former employee, but ACLU will continue its lawsuit – Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition
A former Woodland Park School District employee who was banned from all district property and events after being kicked out of a June 14 school board meeting is now allowed to return to school grounds, the American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado said.
— Read on coloradofoic.org/news/woodland-park-school-district-lifts-ban-against-former-employee-but-aclu-will-continue-its-lawsuit/
Woodland Park School District reverses ban on former employee following lawsuit | FOX21 News Colorado
Less than 24 hours after Woodland Park School District found itself involved in a lawsuit with a former employee who alleged his First Amendment rights had been trampled upon, they unbanned him from school property.
— Read on www.fox21news.com/top-stories/woodland-park-school-district-reverses-ban-on-former-employee-post-lawsuit/
ACLU rescinds lawsuit against the Woodland Park School District | KRDO
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Colorado pulled back on a lawsuit against Woodland Park School District for a “no trespassing” order the district issued against a man during a school board meeting.
— Read on krdo.com/news/2023/08/07/aclu-rescinds-lawsuit-against-the-woodland-school-district/
Colorado school district removes ban against former employee
A former Woodland Park School District employee who was banned from all district property and events after being kicked out of a June 14 school board meeting is now allowed to return to school grounds, the American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado said Monday.
— Read on coloradosun.com/2023/08/07/woodland-park-school-district-removes-ban-logan-ruths/
More on the ACLU lawsuit against the district
As previously reported here, the ACLU has filed suit against the district on behalf of former employee Logan Ruths, regarding his one year banishment from district property. This story has been covered by NBC, the Colorado Sun, the Colorado Springs Indy, KOAA, and the Gazette (and given that media focus, I suspect I missed some!).
Court papers were served to the district Friday, and also Friday board president Rusterholtz announced he’d like to retract the ban against Ruths. Right now, that action is pending review by board attorney Brad Miller and feedback from the other board members.
Here’s KOAA’s news coverage of this case (see story here):
You can watch the board meeting that promoted this action below, timestamp 16:10 is about where this all started:
ACLU sues Woodland Park School Board on behalf of citizen banned from meetings, property | News | csindy.com
Woodland Park School District, its board of education and Superintendent Ken Witt face a federal lawsuit filed Aug. 3 by a district patron who alleges they violated his First Amendment right by banning him from the district for more than a year, after he made a sarcastic remark at a board meeting.
— Read on www.csindy.com/content/tncms/live/
Outgoing principal placed on leave, gag order issued
A CORA request has revealed that retiring Gateway Elementary superintendent Ashley Lawson was placed on administrative leave (with pay) on June 8th. While no cause was given, the email did say it was NOT disciplinary action. Her access to email and voicemail was suspended, and her access to ‘district or school grounds’ was restricted to ‘by appointment’. She was also prohibited from contacting any students, parents, or personnel involved with the district, via any ‘medium of communication’. Lots to digest there, but at a minimum…does the district really have the right to prohibit an employee from speaking to people like that?
How to email your board members and superintendent (how to avoid email censoring)
The WPSD board and superintendent have put limits on freedom of speech for voters in this district. If a voter wants to speak up at a public board meeting, they may or may not get a chance, as total public comment period is limited to 30 minutes max, and names are drawn at random. If someone doesn’t get selected they’re encouraged to email the board instead, but did you know the board applies a filter to incoming emails? If your email contains one of the ‘Blocked Words’, it will be bounced back to you and the board will never see it (same goes for emails to the superintendent.
If you’d like to call Witt a ‘turd’, well, that’s not allowed. Want to call Illingworth a ‘prick’? Not allowed. All sorts of classic mild profanity is included in the list, which thanks to CORA, the public can now peruse…click ‘more’ to see the list at the end of this post (unlike them, I DO believe in freedom of speech).
Read more: How to email your board members and superintendent (how to avoid email censoring) Continue reading →