#mark finchem

PRESCOTT, AZ (AZFamily) — An Arizona lawmaker recently pulled over by police wants his civil speeding ticket dismissed, citing a state law that allows members of the Legislature certain privileges and immunity.

Police records obtained by Arizona’s Family reveal Arizona State Sen. Mark Finchem (R-District 1/Yavapai County), was pulled over on the evening of Jan. 25 near Miller Valley Road and Rodeo Drive in Prescott.

An Arizona state lawmaker recently introduced a bill that would bar teachers from introducing "controversial issues" or engaging in any “political, ideological or religious” advocacy in their classroom.

State Rep. Mark Finchem (R) introduced House Bill 2002 in the Arizona State Legislature earlier this month, according to The Arizona Daily Star. The newspaper notes that if the bill were to pass, teachers could potentially lose their jobs for engaging in political or ideological discussions with their students.

The bill would require teachers to undergo annual ethics training and to abide by a strict ethics code. The code would bar teachers from introducing a “controversial issue” unrelated to a class subject. It would also prohibit teachers from publicly supporting or opposing any legislative, judicial or executive action.

Among other things, the bill also would prevent teachers from placing blame on one racial group of students for the “suffering and inequities” experienced by another group.

The Star notes that Finchem said in the bill that discussing ideological topics in the classroom leads to "indoctrination."

Finchem declined to comment to the Star. He told The Arizona Republic earlier this month that the bill was a direct response to concerns about politics in the classroom from his constituents.

Some educators told the Star that the bill from Finchem appears to be a direct response to the teacher-led #RedForEd movement. The movement led to a statewide teacher strike in April and gave way to Gov. Doug Ducey (R) and the Legislature announcing that teacher salaries would increase by 20 percent over a three-year period.

Finchem told the Republic that he considered teachers wearing #RedForEd shirts in the classroom inappropriate.

"If you step into a classroom with a Trump T-shirt, a Hillary T-shirt, a 'Vote No on 126' T-shirt, you're engaging in political speech in the classroom," he said. "If there's a political agenda behind it, leave it at home. Simple request."

Arizona state law prohibits public and charter school employees from utilizing school resources to influence the outcome of an election. The Republic reported that this law was a reason why some school districts warned teachers against wearing #RedForEd apparel in their classroom.

Jason Freed, president of the Tucson Education Association, told the Star that a law prohibiting teachers from discussing controversial issues would reflect poorly on them.

(via Mark Finchem's days as a political panhandler may finally be over)

Mark Finchem, the election-denying failed Republican Arizona secretary of state candidate, was hit with sanctions on Monday over what a judge ruled were "bad faith" arguments to overturn his election loss.

In a new ruling, Maricopa County Judge Melissa Iyer Julian argued that the purported evidence presented in Finchem's own filings was enough for her to conclude that his efforts to overturn his loss were not made in good faith.

"Attached to Finchem’s Amended Statement was his own expert’s analysis of the alleged failure to count so-called “black box votes,'" wrote Judge Julian. "Finchem’s expert report identified 80,000 potentially 'missing votes.' Yet, Finchem lost the election he challenged by 120,208 votes. That margin was so significant that even if it were assumed that 80,000 votes were missing and that those votes would all have been cast in his favor, the result of the election would not have changed."