Jefferson County Teachers have joined Attorney General Andy Beshear in suing the Bevin administration over sick-out subpoenas.
The lawsuit, filed on April 29, claims the Kentucky Labor Cabinet and Governor Matt Bevin's efforts to get the names of those who called out to protest at the Capitol are against the law.
They didn't endorse him, in fact their choice for governor is not in this lawsuit. Still, the JCTA is hitching their hopes to General Beshear in the latest fight with Governor Bevin.
"Shortly after we learned of the subpoenas, we've been working together in order to protect the ability of teachers to advocate for the students,” Brent McKim, with the JCTA, said.
This fight is to prevent more than school districts from being forced to turn over names of teachers who called in sick causing districts to close several days during the legislative session.
The AG hopes a judge will act on a restraining order and hold a hearing before May 6, the subpoena makes those names due on May 10.
Beshear likened today’s move to standing up to a bully.
Last week, Governor Bevin connected the accidental shooting of a 7-year-old to the move that closed the girl's school for the day. She would have been in class when the shooting took place.
RELATED: AG: Subpoenaing school districts for sick-out teacher information ‘unlawful’
“For a governor to try and claim that a child was shot and it was due to teachers expressing their First Amendment Rights is wrong,” Beshear said. “There' s no other way about it…The statement is wrong. It's despicable. He should have never said it. He should own up to it. He ought to apologize.”
Governor Bevin took the news about how you'd expect.
“The reality is, it has nothing to do with that (First Amendment Rights),” Governor Bevin said. “It is 100 percent to do with politics. It is 100 percent to do with getting him elected. There is no mention in this lawsuit whatsoever of the free speech rights of any of these people at stake."
Bevin also said Beshear is an “embarrassment to Kentucky.”
The political rivals have been on opposing sides of several lawsuits in the past three years. Mr. Bevin is running for re-election, Beshear hopes to be the Democratic nominee to face him in November.
The JCTA has picked Democrat, Adam Edelen as the candidate they’ve endorsed although during the sick-outs they asked their members to go to work and they didn't listen.
"It was not the method we recommended,” McKim said. “But it was for the right reason and it was, we believe, protected First Amendment speech."
We asked whether Beshear has approached any of the AG candidates about if they'd continue the suit if it were to drag on past the elections. He said he had not and insisted he felt it could be wrapped up well before then.
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