Sunday, February 09, 2014

Common Core case continues


COMMONWEALTH OF KENTUCKY

FRANKLIN CIRCUIT COURT

DIVISION I

CIVIL ACTION NO. 13-CI-1316

 

 

DAVID ADAMS                                                                                           PLAINTIFF

 

 

V.                                            REPLY TO DEFENDANTS’ RESPONSE

                                                TO PLAINTIFF’S MOTION TO RECONSIDER

 

COMMONWEALTH OF KENTUCKY,

STEVEN L. BESHEAR, GOVERNOR, et al.                                          DEFENDANTS

 

 

            Defendants Beshear, Marcum, King and Webb devote an inordinate amount of space in their latest brief to seeking dismissal of Plaintiff’s Motion to Reconsider on technical grounds. Defendants rely on an incomplete reading and understanding of the rules of service. CR 5.03 states clearly of proof of service: “Proof may be by certificate of a member of the bar of the court or by affidavit of the person who served the papers, or by any other proof satisfactory to the court. (emphasis added)

            Plaintiff broadcast the Motion to Reconsider in its entirety on the internet on sites monitored by agents and attorneys of Defendants before and after serving it upon the Clerk. The Court’s Order entered January 29, 2014 in response to the Motion to Reconsider is evidence enough that Defendants were made aware of the Motion, otherwise the Court would be in violation of the CR 5.03 requirement that such evidence “shall be filed before action is to be taken thereon by the court or the parties.” The Court is well within its rights to determine sufficiency of service and a complete reading of the Rules makes clear that sufficient care was taken to do so.

            The remainder of Defendants’ Response was devoted to continuing to demonstrate their lack of understanding of the facts and legal arguments in this case. Defendants state “mere possibility of harm is insufficient to provide standing,” indicating a failure to grasp that their own violation of the Kentucky Constitution is by itself real harm, victimizing citizens dependent on its protections, of which Plaintiff is one, which is sufficient for standing. Plaintiff alleged violation of the Kentucky Constitution by Defendants and the Court made key legal errors in avoiding examination of that harm, which was addressed at length in Motion to Reconsider. Defendants compounded the errors in their Response by making a demonstrably false statement: “The Court properly determined that the adoption of Common Core State Standards as the Kentucky core Academic Standards, via regulation and pursuant to Senate Bill 1 (2009), did not violate Section 183.” The Court made no such ruling. Instead, the Court ruled mistakenly that Plaintiff could not bring his complaint to the Court to test the constitutionality of state officials’ actions with state taxpayer dollars and authority granted with limitations defined in the Kentucky Constitution by and on behalf of Kentucky taxpayers. The Court stated “Absent an allegation of a constitutional defect in the statute or the administrative regulation, this Court cannot adjudicate differences of opinion over educational policy.” While this statement, if applied to Rose v. Council for Better Education, Inc., 790 S.W.2d 186 (Ky. 1989), may have forbidden that landmark case from advancing, it also is not the same as conferring constitutional imprimatur upon Defendants’ actions. Setting aside complaints not made by Plaintiff and resolving the question of official violations of Section 183 that occurred and their real, negative impact on Plaintiff as alleged in the Complaint deserve far more serious consideration than have been given in this setting. Plaintiff respectfully requests the Court to reconsider its January 14, 2014 Order in this matter.

 

                                                                                               

                                                                                                Respectfully submitted,

 

                                                                                                __________________

                                                                                                David Adams

                                                                                                121 Nave Place

                                                                                                Nicholasville KY  40356

                                                                                                Plaintiff

 

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

 

This certifies the forgoing was served this 10th day of February, 2014 via U.S. Mail upon:

 

David Wickersham

Assistant General Counsel

Kentucky Department of Education

Capitol Plaza Tower

500 Mero Street

First Floor

Frankfort KY 40601

 

 

Travis Powell

General Counsel

Council on Postsecondary Education

1024 Capitol Center Drive, Suite 320

Frankfort KY 40601

 

 

Alicia Sneed

General Counsel

Education Professional Standards Board

100 Airport Road, Third Floor

Frankfort KY 40601

 

 

 

                                                                                                            __________________

                                                                                                            David Adams