The Peoria Unified School District (PUSD) is facing a lawsuit from one of its own board members after prohibiting her from quoting Scripture during meetings.
The First Liberty Institute filed the lawsuit on Tuesday on behalf of board member Heather Rooks.
The lawsuit noted that public officials have a storied history of quoting Scripture and using religious references to solemnize public occasions, opening with President Joe Biden’s citation of the Book of Isaiah in his 2021 address to the nation following his withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan. Accordingly, Rooks defended her Scripture citations as a continuation of a longstanding American tradition.
“Heather Rooks isn’t a famous historical figure or a household name, but she too wants to be part of the longstanding tradition of government officials solemnizing public occasions in this way,” stated the lawsuit. “To vindicate her statutory and constitutional rights as a Board member and citizen, Rooks respectfully brings this action to declare those rights — and to dispel the confusion that has regrettably clouded a practice as old as the Republic itself.”
Rooks joined the board in January. From her first board meeting until the district ordered her to stop in July, Rooks made it a regular practice of hers to cite Scripture as part of her comments to the public.
The lawsuit noted that after PUSD received a complaint from Secular Communities for Arizona about Rooks’ recitation of Scripture in February, the board’s legal counsel advised board members in an email that they couldn’t pray or recite Scripture during meetings because it allegedly violated the Establishment Clause.
Rooks was one of two board members chastised by district counsel for quoting the Bible during board meetings. The other board member, Rebecca Hill, resigned last month.
Prior to Hill’s resignation, the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) threatened to sue PUSD in May if Hill and Rooks didn’t cease their religious speech.
“While board members are free to promote their personal religious beliefs however they wish in their personal capacities outside of the school board, as government officials they cannot be allowed to commandeer the board in order to impose their personal religious beliefs on district students, parents, and employees,” stated FFRF.
Around the time of the lawsuit threat, PUSD held a public presentation warning against Scripture readings. The presentation was reportedly shared later with staff and parents.
Andy Gould, senior counsel at First Liberty, said in a press release that Rooks’ use of the Bible was part of a historical American tradition.
“Heather takes her responsibilities serving the parents and students in her community seriously, and quotes Bible verses as a source of courage and strength in performing those duties,” said Gould. “Like so many dedicated public leaders throughout our history, Heather most certainly can use inspirational quotes from religious, historical, and philosophical sources and figures as a source of personal inspiration, as well as encouragement to the community at-large.”
Rooks stated in the press release that she was grateful for her membership on the PUSD board, and that Scripture serves as a source of encouragement.
“As a member of the school board, I understand the weight and significance of all of our decisions, and simply find quoting scripture out loud to be encouraging to myself and to many in attendance,” said Rooks.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
As acting governor, one of Treasurer Kimberly Yee’s first official declarations was to assure the state that she wouldn’t abuse her authority by installing agency leadership without legislative approval, implying she wouldn’t follow Gov. Katie Hobbs’ example.
“While I am pleased to step into this role, I will refrain from naming directors to the 13 agencies that currently have vacancies and will not call the Arizona Legislature into session to confirm them,” said Yee.
In the closing remarks of her public statement on Wednesday, Yee expressed the hope that Hobbs would name “qualified directors” to lead the agencies upon her return the next day.
“The people of Arizona deserve leaders who follow the rule of law,” said Yee.
I have been notified that I will be serving as Acting Governor beginning later this evening until mid-morning tomorrow. Read my full statement below. pic.twitter.com/sSuiSCebk4
The State Senate has yet to confirm 13 nominations put forth by Hobbs, who have been serving as interim directors. The senate’s stall prompted Hobbs to remove the nominees from their interim role and re-establish them as executive deputy directors, effectively granting them the authority of directors.
In a statement on Monday, Hobbs said that the executive deputy director move was lawful. The governor blamed the 13 appointees’ failure to be accepted on “extremists in the Senate” bent on adhering to a “radical political agenda.”
“I’m putting an end to [Senate President Warren Petersen’s] political circus that holds Arizona agencies hostage and wastes taxpayer dollars,” said Hobbs.
In an attached letter to Petersen, Hobbs cited instances of canceled nomination hearings and failures to schedule a full senate vote for committee-approved nominees as examples of the senate not fulfilling its vetting process per law or tradition.
Hobbs specifically targeted Sen. Jake Hoffman (R-AZ-15), chair of the Director Nominations Committee, for “disrespectful behavior” such as attempting to leverage nominee confirmations for her acceptance of certain policies.
“It is clear that this committee has taken upon itself to impose some other, impossible standard — or perhaps no standard at all beyond the whims of Senator Hoffman — for evaluating nominees,” wrote Hobbs.
I withdrew my cabinet nominees today to pursue other lawful means of ensuring the state government can work for Arizonans.
The move has prompted outcry from lawmakers. Senate President Warren Petersen (R-AZ-14) said that the executive deputy directorships were a blatant and open attempt at circumventing law.
“Dark day for Arizona,” posted Petersen on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Petersen further asserted that the directors were “fake” and illegitimate. The senate president also clarified that the senate has approved 70 percent of Hobbs’ nominees.
Consequently, Yee barred those directors from sitting at the State Board of Investment meeting on Tuesday. The treasurer echoed Republican lawmakers’ stance that Hobbs’ action was illegal.
In a separate statement, Yee said that Hobbs created “chaos and confusion” directly counter to proper government proceedings.
“The absence of lawfully appointed directors of these two agencies creates legal uncertainty and jeopardizes the proceedings of the State Board of Investment,” said Yee.
Arizona Treasurer Kimberly Yee issued the following statement on today's State Board of Investment meeting. pic.twitter.com/SU0ByqcR4m
— Office of the Arizona State Treasurer (@AZTreasury) September 26, 2023
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
The town of Queen Creek has committed to not enforce pandemic-related mandates in the future, namely concerning COVID-19.
The Queen Creek Town Council issued a resolution during its regular meeting last week to not implement mandates concerning masks, vaccines, business closures, curfews, or “any similar measure,” effectively refusing to establish emergency orders that would put its citizens through a repeat of this recent COVID-19 pandemic.
The council declared that their resolution was passed to counter a trend among other local and state governments that have been, once again, implementing COVID-19 mandates. The council declared that they were taking the proactive measure to assure their citizens’ “God-given rights and liberties.”
“The Queen Creek Town Council believes the decision to wear a mask and receive a COVID-19 vaccination are personal decisions, not something to be mandated by the government,” stated the resolution. “[The council] believes in the right and liberty of individuals to make personal decisions according to their convictions.”
The resolution recommended town employees practice personal responsibility for illness prevention and declared that the town’s policy would be to allow employees to make their own decisions on vaccines and mask-wearing. The resolution also declared that no employee would be fired for refusing to wear a mask or receive a COVID-19 vaccine.
Councilman Travis Padilla said that the resolution affirmed Queen Creek’s commitment to not allowing a repeat of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“This is a loud and clear message we are sending, that it is important for our town to make a statement that says what happened in the past is not going to happen in the future,” said Padilla.
Almost all other local governments in the state enforced mask mandates, including: Avondale, Bisbee, Buckeye, Casa Grande, Carefree, Clarkdale, Clifton, Coolidge, Cottonwood, Douglas, El Mirage, Flagstaff, Fountain Hills, Gila Bend, Glendale, Globe, Goodyear, Guadalupe, Jerome, Kingman, Litchfield Park, Mammoth, Mesa, Miami, Nogales, Oro Valley, Paradise Valley, Payson, Peoria, Phoenix, San Luis, Sedona, Scottsdale, Somerton, Superior, Surprise, Tempe, Tolleson, Tucson, Youngtown, and Yuma.
Tucson and Phoenix also enforced vaccine mandates. Tucson maintained their vaccine mandate, even fighting against a legal challenge from former Attorney General Mark Brnovich. Phoenix suspended their enforcement due to federal ruling against the Biden administration’s federal contractor vaccine mandate.
Pima County also enforced a vaccine mandate up until the legislature passed a ban against the practice last year.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
Vice President Kamala Harris plans to visit Northern Arizona University (NAU) next month as part of a tour to sell college students on key Democratic causes and increase young voter turnout.
Harris will encourage support for abortion rights, gun control, climate change reforms, progressive voting policies, and LGBTQ+ acceptance. The vice president alluded to the critical role of young voters in the upcoming presidential election.
“This generation is critical to the urgent issues that are at stake right now for our future,” said Harris. “It is young leaders throughout America who know what the solutions look like and are organizing in their communities to make them a reality. My message to students is clear: We are counting on you, we need you, you are everything.”
In Harris’ most recent appearance at Reading Area Community College in Pennsylvania last week, the vice president said that those who disagree with the progressive Democratic views on abortion, guns, climate change, voting, and sexuality are “extremists.”
Harris told the students that abortion was a constitutional right opposed by “extremists,” and that the Supreme Court had taken it away from them. The Constitution doesn’t enumerate abortion among individual rights; it doesn’t mention abortion at all.
“You all […] in your lifetime, witnessed the highest court in our land take a constitutional right that had been recognized from the people of America, from the women of America,” said Harris. “You all — your generation will have mothers and grandmothers that had more rights than you will have.”
Harris said that Biden would sign any bill passed by Congress codifying a right to abortion. Until then, Harris recommended the college students to mimic Mexicans, who “took to the streets” to codify abortion.
As for gun control, Harris advocated for an assault weapons ban, more extensive background checks, and nationwide red flag laws. The vice president characterized opponents to these reforms as “extremists.”
Also last week, President Joe Biden created the first-ever Office of Gun Violence Prevention. Biden placed Harris as the head of the effort. It appears that Harris may be more active in this role in contrast with her other role as the lead on mitigating the border crisis.
On voting policies, Harris took a shot at Georgia’s Christian leaders for their “hypocrisy” in banning the distribution of food and water to voters in line. Harris promulgated a debunked characterization of the law that Georgia made voting more difficult by criminalizing gifts of food and water. The Georgia law prohibits political entities seeking to influence voters from handing out refreshments.
“What happened to ‘love thy neighbor?’ The hypocrisy abounds,” said Harris.
Harris lamented the fact that not all states allow voters to use their student ID to vote. She promoted the practice of automatic voter registration.
Harris also painted opponents to diversity, equity, and inclusion as “extremists.”
“[D]espite what these extremist, so-called leaders are trying to do when they’re trying to get rid of DEI — diversity, equity and inclusion — we know that we’re going to stay committed to issues like equity,” said Harris. “Yeah, we want everyone to have an equal amount, but not everyone starts out on the same base. And so, if you give everyone an equal amount but you don’t start out on the same base, you’re still going to end up with people being treated differently.”
The White House announced Harris’ tour earlier this month. Harris is scheduled to appear at NAU on Oct. 17.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ-09) said that “a better society” would hang General Mark Milley for his role in the Jan. 6 invasion of the Capitol.
Gosar issued the remarks in a newsletter over the weekend. The congressman pointed out that Milley delayed the deployment of the National Guard, criticizing Milley as a “homosexual-promoting-BLM-activist.”
“In a better society, quislings like the strange sodomy-promoting General Milley would be hung,” stated Gosar. “How this traitor remains in office is a question we need answered.”
Gosar also condemned Milley for his secretive 2020 calls to the Chinese government assuring that then-President Donald Trump wouldn’t launch a nuclear strike.
Although multiple media outlets reported on Gosar’s latest comments as novel, Gosar has called for Milley’s hanging before. In 2021, Gosar said that Milley’s collaboration with the Chinese government constituted “a hanging offense in most civilized societies.”
Add: Gen. Milley collaborated with Chinese military to undermine commander in chief. A hanging offense in most civilized societies.
Over 2 million illegal aliens, 10% Covid infected, prancing into the country.
The Gen. “I’m such a silly” Milley promised to give China the inside information. He may not be true to the US but he keeps his word to China. #AmericaLasthttps://t.co/KkTcaKjxDZ
Earlier this year, a day after the two-year anniversary of the Jan. 6 invasion, Gosar called for an investigation into Milley as well as former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA-11). Gosar declared Milley a traitor, and accused the pair of attempting a coup.
“Milley’s treasonous sellout to China will be investigated,” said Gosar. “Pelosi not warning members about intel of impending violence will be exposed.”
Remember – we will conduct a real investigation into J6. The effort to attempt a coup between traitor Gen. Mark Milley and Pelosi will be reviewed and exposed. https://t.co/miu5SZaZCo
Milley’s spokesman at the time, Dave Butler, said in a statement that the calls were routine practices vital to national security interests.
“The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs regularly communicates with Chiefs of Defense across the world, including with China and Russia,” said Butler. “His calls with the Chinese and others in October and January were in keeping with these duties.”
Yet, Trump and other Republicans have repeatedly argued that warning adversaries of an attack without executive approval constituted treason. This past week, Trump called for Milley to be tried for treason.
“This is an act so egregious that, in times gone by, the punishment would have been DEATH!” said Trump. “A war between China and the United States could have been the result of this treasonous act”
In August, the Capitol Police Chief on Jan. 6, Steven Sund, told Tucker Carlson that there was a coordinated effort of intentional neglect by federal intelligence, Congress, and military leadership to properly secure the Capitol.
Sund shared that he never received any requests concerning permit revocation or a citywide lockdown as reportedly discussed ahead of the invasion by Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mark Milley and Acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller.
Instead, Miller issued a memo restricting the National Guard from carrying various weapons or civil disobedience equipment.
Sund also shared that Pelosi was the ultimate authority in a chain of command that stalled the provision of additional military assistance.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
