Bill Donohue comments on an attempt to force a Catholic judge to recuse herself from a case because she is Catholic:
Kathleen Oropeza is the president of Fund Education Now, a Florida activist group that is anti-school voucher, anti-charter schools, anti-testing, and pro-union. Her outfit has filed a lawsuit contending that the state constitution mandates “high quality” public education, and that funds distributed to other schools deprive public schools of the monies they need to succeed. The state circuit judge handling this case is Angela C. Dempsey, a Catholic. Oropeza wants Dempsey to recuse herself because of her alleged bias.
Oropeza’s claims are not only without merit—they smack of bigotry. Dempsey is being accused of supporting Catholic Charities, speaking at Catholic schools, and contributing to Catholic causes. Oropeza did not say whether Dempsey blesses herself with holy water while exiting church on Sunday (that would have been the real clincher).
Looks like Oropeza fails her own guilt-by-association test. For example, the case could be made that she should step down from running an education lobby. Why? Because she participated in the Save Our Schools March in Washington, and one of the key speakers at that event was Jonathan Kozol: he is an education guru who embraces the kind of indoctrination that Communist nations like China and Cuba have perfected.
Oropeza attended Orange County Public Schools and Florida State University. After trying to follow her logic, she has convinced me that the Florida education system is a mess. However, the remedy is not more funds for public schools, but less for them and more for Catholic schools.
Contact Kathleen Oropeza: kathleen@fundeducationnow.org
