Greater Orange News Service

The ROCCO REPORT UPDATE
a Special Report from ORANGE NET NEWS /O/N/N/

Arguing that the Orange Unified School Board Censure of Trustee Steve Rocco violated the First Amendment Free Speech protections, the Brown Act and the California Constitution, Californians Aware President Richard McKee filed a lawsuit against the October 12th Orange Unified School Board Resolution of Censure against Rocco. The 27 page petition demands the OUSD Board rescind the Resolution of Censure and take steps to insure that free speech is not violated at the OUSD meetings in the future.

McKee had appeared before the OUSD Board arguing against the wording of the resolution and warning of legal consequences if the resolution was approved as written. The Censure Resolution was prepares by the OUSD legal team represented by Parker and Covert law firm. McKee has tangled with the law team before winning against them in similar Brown Act cases involving OUSD and other Southern California school districts.

The Rocco Censure Affair was the focus of two months of intense local media and school district focus. The whole affair began with OUSD Superintendent Thomas Godley censoring a video broadcast of the OUSD School Board Meeting to the community to “protect” the “privacy rights” of former Villa Park Principal Ben Rich. Rocco stated that instead of transferring Rich to another school, Rocco would have voted to fire Rich. The months long censorship, Censure process, and now lawsuit has focused more attention on Rocco, Rich and OUSD than the thirty seconds of Rocco’s comments about Rich ever would have produced.

Californians Aware Website:
https://www.calaware.org/home.php

BACKGROUND STORIES:
OUSD Censors School Board Broadcasts:
http://greaterorange.blogspot.com/2006/09/metro-talk_23.html

OUSD Censorship Violates Community Trust:
http://greaterorange.blogspot.com/2006/09/metro-views_24.html

OUSD Censorship to Censure:
http://greaterorange.blogspot.com/2006/09/special-report-orange-unified-schools.html

OUSD Trustee John Ortega Confronts OUSD Trustee Steve Rocco:
http://greaterorange.blogspot.com/2006/09/special-report-rocco-censure-report_28.html

OUSD Trustee Steve Rocco defiantly declares:
“I will speak, I will talk, I will tell the people…”
http://greaterorange.blogspot.com/2006/10/special-report-orange-unified-schools_07.html

The Orange Unified Board tramples the First Amendment
Is the reason ignorance, or politics, or bad legal advice -- or all of these?
a community viewpoint by Richard McKee
http://greaterorange.blogspot.com/2006/10/metro-views_09.html

OUSD’s Nichols Plays the “Gay Republican Pedophile” Card
“Just because we have free speech doesn’t mean there aren’t any consequences to that free speech.” -Trustee Kim Nichols 10/12/06
http://greaterorange.blogspot.com/2006/10/ousds-nichols-plays-gay-republican.html

Orange Unified School Board Trustees’ Statements Regarding the October 12th Resolution of Censure
http://greaterorange.blogspot.com/2006/10/orange-unified-school-board-trustees.html


SMITH SWITCHES VOTE
IN 5-2 ROCCO CENSURE VOTE
http://greaterorange.blogspot.com/2006_10_01_greaterorange_archive.html


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