Looking out: Governed and policed by hypocrites

Governed and policed by hypocrites

"I did not choose to teach, just as one does not choose to minister or to build. A teacher is, simply, what I've always been." — Sherry Hearn

In my opinion, teaching is one of the most worthwhile professions on earth. The social and academic moulding of a young pliant mind is a sacred privilege and responsibility not to be taken lightly. Sherry Hearn has taught for 27 years. She has been very good at it. Debbie Ariano, one of Hearn's former students who graduated in 1995, stated, "Mrs Hearn was probably the most dedicated teacher I've ever known ... Her life was her students".

According to the Atlanta Journal/Atlanta Constitution (May 19, 1996), "Hearn, 48, who was named Chatham County's Teacher of the Year in 1994, taught her American history students that the Fourth Amendment to the [US] Constitution protects citizens against unreasonable search and seizures conducted by police without probable cause". How ironic. Patrick Russo, the Chatham County Schools superintendent, went along with the school board's decision to fire Hearn, despite the fact that he thinks she is "a wonderful teacher". Hearn held fast to the very same principles of constitutional law that she taught to her students.

Her firing was the result of county and campus police conducting unconstitutional, and therefore illegal, searches and seizures of students' belongings. Hearn protested against the practice along with her students — but she was more vocal. The local government and police did not like that. They even sent drug-sniffing dogs to the school.

Eventually a small piece of a marijuana cigarette was found in Hearn's car. Russo admits that the search of Hearn's car was illegal; nevertheless, he ordered her to submit to a drug test or be fired. On the way to the drug testing facility, she struggled with her convictions and principles. Principle won out. She decided not to take the test — which was her right. However, acting upon the advice of her lawyer, she took the test at another testing facility on the next day despite having been fired the previous day. The test proved that she had not partaken of that or any other illegal substance.

Keep in mind that certain members of that police department will stand up and cheer when one of their sports heroes (many of whom are admitted and sometimes even convicted drug users) scores crucial points in their sport. Even the president of the United States admits to having smoked marijuana. Yet, a teacher who roundly denies any drug use — all of the evidence supports her denials — and who has no idea of how the drug got into her car (a car that sat in the school parking lot with the windows down every day) is terminated.

This "wonderful" teacher's record of 27 years is sullied by a political-governmental power-play simply because she stood up for her constitutional rights. They obviously wanted to teach her, and others who might defy them, a lesson. Well, they did. But what about the lessons she has been teaching her students for the past 27 years? How very sad that, for the most part the US is being governed and policed by hypocrites.
[The writer is a prisoner on death row in the United States. He is happy to answer letters commenting on his columns. He can be written to at: Brandon Astor Jones, EF-122216, G2-51, GD&CC, PO Box 3877, Jackson, GA 30233, USA. Brandon's childhood autobiography is available in booklet form for $16, including postage. Every cent raised will go towards defending his life. Please make cheques payable to the Brandon Astor Jones Defence Account and post to 10 Palara Place, Dee Why NSW 2099. Donations to the Brandon Astor Jones Defence Account may be made at any Commonwealth Bank, account No. 2127 1003 7638.]

From GLW issue 237