Midwest
Attorney says 'a lot of teachers coming to us' after they are being forced to use students' preferred pronouns
The Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) law firm scored several legal victories by defending teachers who object to using students’ preferred pronouns, which were mandated by school districts.
“There are a lot of teachers coming to us,” ADF legal counsel Logan Spena told Fox News Digital.
“Unfortunately, too many school districts around this country have adopted policies that compel teachers to personally affirm things that aren’t true,” Spena said. “That’s a violation of their First Amendment rights. And we’ve thankfully been able to have some success in representing other teachers. And so that’s leading other teachers to contact us.”
ADF on Wednesday settled a federal lawsuit against the Jackson Local School District (JLSD) in Ohio after two years.
LOCAL VIRGINIA TEACHERS NO LONGER FORCED TO USE STUDENTS’ PREFERRED PRONOUNS AFTER SETTLEMENT
The Virginia-based West Point School Board agreed to pay a former high school teacher, Peter Vlaming, $575,000 in damages and attorney’s fees after he refused to call a transgender student by their preferred pronouns. (Peter Vlaming)
Ohio-based middle school English teacher Vivian Geraghty won $450,000 in damages and legal fees after suing JLSD for a free speech violation. Geraghty was forced to resign because she refused to participate in the “social transition” of students who express a gender identity inconsistent with their biological sex.
According to ADF, school district officials demanded her resignation because she objected to conforming to a policy that would violate her religious beliefs.
“This settlement is monetary. It still sends a strong message that if you’re going to not respect the constitutional rights of teachers, it’s going to have a cost,” Spena told Fox News Digital. “Jackson, in this instance, isn’t changing this policy. As far as we know, there aren’t other teachers there that are objecting to this.
Spena added that ADF is currently handling a similar case in Indiana.
“It’s in the seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. We’re also seeing the problem crop up really all over the country,” he explained.
Furthermore, ADF boasts a consistent record of winning these kinds of cases.
Deborah Figliola, a Virginia-based teacher, told Fox News Digital that a lot of teachers disagreed yet were silent about Harrisonburg City Public Schools policy mandating that employees use a students’ preferred pronouns. (Fox News Digital)
Most recently, ADF won a case against the Harrisonburg City Public Schools in Virginia, which resulted in the school board granting three teachers religious accommodations and ending a mandate forcing employees to use students’ preferred pronouns.
HIGH SCHOOL SENIORS FROM THE NORTH FLOCK TO SOUTHERN UNIVERSITIES: REPORT
Kristine Marsh, Laura Nelson, and Debrah Figlolia argued that their rights, protected in the Commonwealth’s Free Speech Clause and the Virginia Religious Freedom Restoration Act, had been violated by compelled speech.
Similar to the case in JSLD, the teachers in HCPS had to undergo training that required teachers to ask a student’s “preferred” name and pronouns and to always use them.
Deborah Figliola, one of the three plaintiffs in the case, told Fox News Digital that several teachers disagreed with the policy, but didn’t speak up.
She added that some teachers even quit due to the policy.
ADF won the case in Harrisonburg after winning a significant case they described as having “seismic implications” for teachers in Virginia and abroad. Virginia-based West Point School Board agreed to pay a former high school teacher, Peter Vlaming, $575,000 in damages and attorney’s fees after he refused to call a transgender student by their preferred pronouns.
Alliance Defending Freedom scored several legal victories defending teachers who object to using students’ preferred pronouns, which were mandated by school districts. (Logan Spena)
Spena explained to Fox News Digital that although the Vlaming case was related to Virginia’s Constitution in particular, “it’s absolutely been helpful” for the lawsuit against JLSD and raises implications that could aid authorities in other states.
He went on to say, “What’s important to understand about Vlaming is that it is a Virginia constitutional case, not a federal case. But it did go all the way to the Virginia Supreme Court, which offered an excellent interpretation of Virginia’s free speech and free exercise of religion provision. So that protects teachers in Virginia strongly, but it also is persuasive authority for other courts to look at.”
JLSD officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“The Jackson Local School District is committed to cultivating a learning environment where every student feels supported, valued and safe,” Board of Education President Tonya Wright said in a statement, per CantonRep.
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The Detroit Lions are facing a significant dilemma regarding a player selected in the first-round of the 2024 NFL Draft.
Cornerback Terrion Arnold is facing multiple felony charges stemming from an alleged robbery and kidnapping plot in Florida.
When drafted, the former Alabama Crimson Tide defensive back signed a four-year, $14,343,710 contract. The agreement included a $7,251,788 signing bonus and an average salary of $3,585,928 annually.
So at this point, Arnold has been paid more than half of his contract.
This year, Arnold was set to earn a base salary of $1,273,974, which included a roster bonus of $825,000. His cap hit is $3,911,921 this year and has dead cap hit of $9,127,816.
If the Lions decide to cut the 23-year-old, they would be on the hook for dead cap costs, but could in the future recoup monies based on the league’s conduct policy.
According to Spotrac, “Lions Terrion Arnold has 2-years, $4.8 M (guaranteed) remaining on his rookie contract, plus a potential 5th-year option for the 2028 season. Any suspension stemming from a violation of the league’s conduct polict would void the guarantees.”
In the short term, cutting Arnold is not significantly beneficial. The organization could save money in the future depending on if his decisions are deemed to have breech the clauses in his first NFL contract.
Detroit has options at the cornerback position if Arnold is no longer a part of the organization. Nick Whiteside, Rock Ya-Sin, Keith Abney and Ennis Rakestraw are all in the mix to earn playing time opposite of veteran D.J. Reed.
“It’s just the depth. Like, you’ve got guys that have played in games and that’s what you want. It’s not like you’re guessing on what you’re getting. You know what you’re going to get from those guys and so another year in the system, another year competing, he’s (Whiteside) going to be better,” said defensive backs coach Deshea Townsend. “And just that’s the thing about the NFL, you got to have guys who go out there and compete and he’s another one that’s capable of playing and it’s going to push everybody else in the room.”
Currently, the team has $19,338,873 (17th) available in cap space, based on the top-51 players on the roster.
#Lions CB Terrion Arnold has 2-years, $4.8M (guaranteed) remaining on his rookie contract, plus a potential 5th-year option for the 2028 season.
Any suspension stemming from a violation of the league’s conduct policy would void the guarantees.
— Spotrac (@spotrac) June 25, 2026
For more comprehensive Detroit Lions coverage and NFL insider analysis, follow us on X, @detroitpodcast, head on over to our Facebook page and give it a like, follow us on TikTok, subscribe to the Detroit Lions On SI Lone Wolves YouTube Channel for daily videos, news, member-exclusive content.
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Sneak peek inside the new Milwaukee Public Museum under construction
See inside the new Nature & Culture Museum of Wisconsin, the future successor to the Milwaukee Public Museum, under construction on Nov. 20, 2025.
The Milwaukee Public Museum has now packed 600,000 items from its collection of 4 million as the staff prepares to move them into their new home: The Nature & Culture Museum of Wisconsin at 1310 N. 6th St.
The staff could still be working through 2027 to move the remaining items, said Collections Move Project Manager Sara Podejko on June 24.
“We will continue packing here even after the future museum opens,” Podejko said.
According to the museum’s June report to the County Board’s committee on parks and culture, construction continues to move along on track, and the new site is expected to open mid-way through 2027.
About half of the total collection has already been inventoried, a painstaking process that has given the museum the opportunity to streamline its electronic storage system.
“There’s been a lot of work ongoing in the collections departments prior to digitize their material, but not everything was. And so, a real upside to this move is that we are able to not only inventory, but barcode all of our specimens,” Podejko said.
That barcode allows collection move technicians to easily input items into an inventory spreadsheet and immediately relocate them.
“It kind of eliminates some human error, which is really important when you’re dealing with four million things,” Podejko said.
Twenty-nine staff members are facilitating the move, including the technicians who were hired and trained specifically to move the artifacts.
“Every time they pack an object, they first assess it for its condition, weaknesses, areas of stability, and then they adapt the pack to that object itself,” Podejko said.
Many of the technicians are also recent graduates and early professionals looking to break into the museum collections scene.
“Collections can be difficult to get into and a job like this kind of gives them (a) foot in the door,” Podejko said.
The public museum’s current facility has continued to face structural challenges amid the move. In January, a passenger elevator failed and was out of service for two months. The only elevator was a small one for wheelchairs, which led to wait times as long as 30 minutes. During that time, an escalator was also taken out of service for repairs.
The museum’s 350-ton water-cooled chiller is also close to failure and needs bearing replacement to keep it functioning throughout the summer.
Sunshine and comfortable temperatures return Thursday before a weekend warm-up sends highs into the 90s. Heat index values could reach the triple digits early next week. FOX 9 meteorologist Jared Piepenburg has the forecast.
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