MEDIA ALERT: Judge rules governor’s executive order caused ‘concrete injury’ to ousted Board of Education members

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For Immediate Release: Thursday, February 27, 2020

(FRANKFORT, Ky.) – A federal judge agreed with former Kentucky Board of Education members ousted by Gov. Andy Beshear’s illegal and unconstitutional executive order abolishing their positions without cause or granting them due process “suffered a concrete injury.”

In his ruling today regarding a case jointly filed in U.S. District Court in Frankfort against the Beshear administration by several former board members and the Bluegrass Institute for Public Policy Solutions, a free-market think tank, U.S. District Judge Gregory Van Tatenhove denied the group’s request for a temporary injunction but allowed the case to move forward.

“The Plaintiffs have suffered a concrete injury as a result of Kentucky’s law and the Governor’s actions because … they will have actually, and not just theoretically, been denied due process rights prior to the termination of their positions,” Van Tatenhove wrote in his decision. He also indicated the plaintiffs have standing in federal court.

“Judge Van Tatenhove's ruled these conscientious public officials suffered a real injury as a result of this governor's firing without cause,” said Steven J. Megerle, who represents the plaintiffs and serves as a Bluegrass Institute board member. “You cannot violate the law and the longstanding American principle of due process without being held accountable. Today, such accountability against arbitrary and unlawful acts by the governor will continue to be litigated."

Dr. Gary Houchens, the lead plaintiff, said the ousted board members look forward to continuing their legal case against Beshear’s blatant power grab.

"Board members suffered injury because of Beshear's unprecedented actions, but the independence of Kentucky's education system from rank partisan politics suffered an even greater injustice,” Houchens said. “More than anything that's what we seek to restore."

Read the full decision here.

For more information, please contact Dr. Gary Houchens, Bluegrass Institute Scholar and former member of the Kentucky Board of Education, at (270) 799-9081 or Jim Waters at jwaters@freedomkentucky.com, 859.444.5630 ext. 102 (office) or 270.320.4376 (cell).