Fire chief was wrongly fired for supporting biblical marriage: court
by Kevin Theriot, LifeSite:
This time last year A Charlie Brown Christmas was being censored in schools and former Atlanta Fire Chief Kelvin Cochran was still waiting for justice after being wrongly fired for expressing his religious beliefs about marriage.
But this year is looking up – both for the Christmas classic and for Chief Cochran.
Chief Cochran was fired by the city in 2015 in violation of his constitutional rights. He brought a federal civil rights suit against the city of Atlanta for his unjust termination.
I had the privilege of representing Chief Cochran before a federal district court last month, asking that it uphold his right to free speech. The government cannot force its employees to get permission before engaging in free speech. After all, free speech is not really free if you have to get City permission for it.
Thankfully, the court ruled December 20 that the City of Atlanta’s actions were unconstitutional.
Much like Linus’s speech about the true meaning of Christmas from Luke 2, Chief Cochran briefly included what the Bible says about the true meaning of marriage and purpose of sex in a men’s devotional book he wrote on his private time. He then published “Who Told You That You Were Naked: Overcoming the Stronghold of Condemnation” on his own dime in 2013.
But when a city councilman found out about his beliefs regarding marriage, he took the book to the H.R. department in November 2014. The mayor initially suspended Chief Cochran for 30 days without pay and ordered him to attend “sensitivity training.” He then fired him in January, stating, “I profoundly disagree with and am deeply disturbed by the sentiments expressed in the paperback . . . .” The Mayor also cited as an additional reason that the Chief didn’t consult with him or get City permission before writing it.
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