Student in "I am not a number" case loses appeal

Student Kicked Out Of School For Refusing To Wear RFID Tracking Badge Following Failed Appeal

Having lost her appeal, 15 year-old student Andrea Hernandez is leaving John Jay High School after school officials denied her request to allow her to continue her “education uninterrupted” by permitting her to use her old (chipless) ID badge which “does not signify participation in a program which I believe conflicts with my religious beliefs.” In her handwritten letter, Hernandez writes: “I do not wish to wear the new badge, even without the RFID chip, because it signifies participation in the program.” Hernandez, who has been threatened with expulsion for refusing to wear a chipless RFID tracking badge, had her request for a preliminary injunction denied by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals and the Western District of Texas. Rutherford Institute attorneys argue the school is violating her rights under Texas’ Religious Freedom Act and the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution. “The case will definitely move forward now, and hopefully, we will eventually find justice in the courts,” John W. Whitehead, president of The Rutherford Institute says.

Comment: It looks to me that she chose to leave by not complying. My own RFID experience this week. My RFID badge for underground garage in downtown Minneapolis quit working. I had to get a new one. What’s the big deal?