Developing: Pakistani Plane Escorted by UK Fighter Jets — 2 Men Arrested

Doc Thompson’s 24-hour radio marathon, ‘#24forok,’ continues until 9 am ET — Listen Live!

Technology

Student Appeals to Higher Court After Ruling That ‘Mark of Beast’ RFID Card Doesn’t Infringe on Religious Rights

Jan. 14, 2013 1:20pm Liz Klimas

You might have seen TheBlaze’s previous coverage of the Texas school debuting a new student ID system that used technology to track the location of students to improve safety and attendance — and the subsequent lawsuit brought on by a student who was suspended for refusing to wear the RFID (radio-frequency identification) card.

The saga continues.

Just last week a federal judge ruled that sophomore Andrea Hernandez’s religious rights were not infringed upon by the requirement that she wear the card, which thus upheld her suspension from school for refusing to do so. Only a few days later, the Rutherford Institute, the civil rights organization helping Hernandez with her case, filed another appeal to the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans.

Wired reported that Hernandez, who for religious reasons does not want to wear the ID card, regardless of the RFID chip. She has compared it to the “mark of the beast.”

Northside ISD Student in Texas Appeals Court Decision on RFID Card Use

Renderings of the RFID cards used at the Northside schools in its pilot program. (Image: Northside ISD)

In the latest court decision, the 15-year-old’s suspension from John Jay High School would continue, but the Northside ISD offered to reassign Hernandez to another school were the RFID card system is not in place. Hernandez has refused this and in the latest appeal asks that her suspension be lifted until the case is officially decided upon.

“The Supreme Court has made clear that government officials may not scrutinize or question the validity of an individual’s religious beliefs,” John Whitehead, president of The Rutherford Institute, in a statement. “By declaring Andrea Hernandez’s objections to be a secular choice and not grounded in her religious beliefs, the district court has placed itself as an arbiter of what is and is not religious. This is simply not permissible under our constitutional scheme, and we will appeal this case all the way to the Supreme Court, if necessary.”

My San Antonio reported that the district estimates legal costs for the case will be tens of thousands of dollars. Given this would be absorbed by Northside ISD taxpayers, the district has said it would seek that the plaintiff pay the costs.

Watch this video from Eye Opener, which takes a look at both side of the issue:

Benghazi, IRS, AP...What's next? Only TheBlaze TV offers the truth from Glenn Beck, Andrew Wilkow, and Real News from TheBlaze. Get instant access and a free trial here.

Back to The Blaze »

Comments (62)

RonPaulOrNoOne
Posted on January 14, 2013 at 10:08pm
Mark of the beast of not. Every student has the right to not have it. What ever student is going around making sure people have to wear it are a bunch of idiots and need medical help.

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- 777jenn
  Posted on January 15, 2013 at 12:35am
  How silly and ignorant for anyone to think for a second that a stupid card, chip, tatoo, etc. is the ‘Mark of the beast’. It is IN one’s forehead (brain!) not On the skin anywhere! This “mark” is simply put to be FOOLED into believing that the 1st “christ’ to come along is THE true Jesus. False one (Satan) comes 1st. True Christ comes not at 666 but at 777 (7th seal, trump & vial). Wait and stand if you are one of God’s elect.
  
  Report this comment
- teapartyconservatism
  Posted on January 15, 2013 at 1:16am
  May go to Supreme Court but still it’s most likely easily defeated by zapping it in microwave oven or by passing it around among friends while someone is off playing hooky.
  
  Here is some Supreme Court news pertaining to Obama’s ineligibility that TheBlaze didn’t feel you needed to know.
  
  “Breaking news! Chief Justice of the Supreme Court John Roberts schedules a case by Attorney Taitz regarding Obama’s forged IDs to be heard in conference before the full Supreme Court”
  http://www.orlytaitzesq.com/?p=375765
  
  Pray that Justice Thomas and four of his colleagues will speak up for finally enforcing the Constitution, when evidence of Obama’s fraudulent birth certificate, altered Selective Service registration and stolen CT Social Security number is presented in conference before all the justices.
  
  Then again, perhaps he and the court will remain silent on Obama’s usurpation of the Presidency.
  
  Drew Zahn, WND, Justice Clarence Thomas: “We’re ‘evading’ eligibility” http://www.wnd.com/2010/04/142101/ (04/17/2010)
  
  Report this comment
- UnwantedFoe
  Posted on January 15, 2013 at 4:01am
  Jenn, you’re blind to the small steps that are always taken by authority to grow their power… if this goes through its not too long until we possibly could get tags put under the skin of children at birth.
  
  Report this comment
- RRFlyer
  Posted on January 15, 2013 at 10:15am
  It also forced all people, great and small, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hands or on their foreheads, 17 so that they could not buy or sell unless they had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of its name.
  
  Report this comment
lylejk
Posted on January 14, 2013 at 6:35pm
As long as they don’t require you to embed it in your hand, then why call it mark of the beast. The military has been using CAC cards now for years. :)

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
TheBurningTruth
Posted on January 14, 2013 at 6:27pm
I can see a nifty little “valet” business in the future. One kid charges a bunch of others $5 to “check them in” for the day simply by carrying their card in his backpack. As long as it’s within reach of the sensor, the missing kid will show up as in class. Since most funding takes place on the basis of attendance, the teachers won’t care because more funding means more $$ in their pocket.

Look for school attendance to increase markedly as this “valet service” takes off.

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
Robert Hawk
Posted on January 14, 2013 at 5:36pm
The Judge is correct; the student ID card has nothing to do with the mark of the beast (Satan as the Fake Jesus). The mark of the beast is inside your forehead. It’s the knowledge that there are two Christ’s which will return and the first one (the one who returns in the flesh) is a fake. The mark of the beast is being to ignorant about our fathers word to be able to tell the difference in the fake and true Christ, therefore many millions will fall on their knees and worship the fake Christ due to being illiterate.
My only concern for the badge would be its ability to become a choking device if it does not have a breakaway lanyard, in at least two places. Besides, ID badges are easily manufactured, so they are not high security nor are they much of a threat. Suspension sounds a little over the top however for someone who has an issue with an ID badge.
The school would be better off to require the students to acquire id badges (form the same place that issues drivers licenses as those ID badges are far more difficult to duplicate. Further those id badges (or drivers license) can be displayed in a clear case as an id badge which is useful both at school and off campus. The holder which the id card would go into could contain the school information. This solution would have less rejection by the children or their parents.

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- castious
  Posted on January 15, 2013 at 7:12am
  Hawk like your handle you are about as smart as one, school kids are required by law to attend a school as a result there should be no need of RFID card, so if the so called school requires an ID a birth certificate be sufficient. Driving in any state is a privilege not a right so as a result you are required by law to have on your person a DRIVERS LICENCE while you are opperating a motor vehicle.Papers Please.
  
  Report this comment
- JohnParks
  Posted on January 15, 2013 at 2:50pm
  Castious, the right to travel on public roads is INDEED guaranteed by the Constitution. You seem to be confusing a states’ authority over operation of a motor vehicle on public roads for commercial purposes (driving) with the RIGHT to operate a motor vehicle on public roads for the purpose of travel or transporting personal property.
  
  “Even the legislature has no power to deny to a citizen the right to travel upon the highway and transport his property in the ordinary course of his business or pleasure, though this right may be regulated in accordance with the public interest and convenience.” Chicago Motor Coach v. Chicago, 169 NE 22.
  
  (“Regulated” here means traffic safety enforcement: stop lights, signs, etc.)
  
  “The right of the citizen to travel upon the public highways and to transport his property thereon, either by carriage or by automobile, is not a mere privilege which a city may prohibit at will, but a common right which he has under the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” Thompson v. Smith, 154 SE 179.
  
  Don’t let ignorance tread on your rights.
  
  Out of curiosity, is this you?
  http://sealladh.goodoolz.com/t422-the-contract-of-castious
  
  Report this comment
ginger100
Posted on January 14, 2013 at 4:24pm
most hispanics have voted to have the mark of the beast, curse them and their line

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
PoliticalSmackdown {Subscribe & Friend me on YouTube}
Posted on January 14, 2013 at 4:12pm
I have this nifty ;little tool that zaps the crap out of the rfid chip rendering it useless. i zap all of my Cards.

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- whater39
  Posted on January 14, 2013 at 6:59pm
  Opps…. I don’t know what happened to my card
  
  Report this comment
SocialistSlayer
Posted on January 14, 2013 at 3:29pm
WelKome to Amerika !

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- Silvertruth
  Posted on January 14, 2013 at 3:55pm
  I get why RFID is in use, but folks, be aware that in this case it’s no different than a key used to open doors. Can it be used for global tracking? Not really, it’s a short range system that would require significant power to track the kids around campus, it probably only tracks what locks they open and close.
  
  So, I think calling this the ‘mark of the beast’ is a bit of a stretch for her but she’s concerned it could prove to be a stepping stone to that kind of tracking and in that area I’d have to agree with her.
  
  RFID is a technology of convenience, what we do with it is subject to our moral and social ethics. What could be the ‘mark of the beast’ in this instance is not what the school is doing with this, but what it is saying about where we are headed as a society. If she had objected on those grounds, that her freedom of self, her freedom of conscience is under assault, she’d have won in the first place. Putting this under a religious guise, this early on, is what is hurting her.
  
  She can only win an appeal if she can prove that the RFID chip can be used to violate her religious belief’s, not that it is currently because as a technology, it is religiously neutral. It’s what is done with the technology that is the violation.
  
  Report this comment
Eastinfection
Posted on January 14, 2013 at 3:14pm
Sit
Stay
Roll over
Beg
Lie Down

Good human!

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
OniKaze
Posted on January 14, 2013 at 3:09pm
I am glad she is standing up for something..

Go to school, take the card, chuck it in the locker, and forget about it until graduation.. That is what I did with mine when my school said that we were “required” to carry it…

I told them, “No, I have a State ID, and my name appears in your records as a student…. Thats all I need.”

After I told my principle that I had no intention of ever carrying the card, he realized that fighting me on this wasn’t going to be an easy win, so they dropped it…

There is a way around everything…

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- Government_Goodies
  Posted on January 15, 2013 at 12:03pm
  This has to be one of the most sensible posts about the situation. This solution wouldn’t have wasted thousands and thousands of taxpayer dollars.
  
  Report this comment
LeadNotFollow
Posted on January 14, 2013 at 2:39pm
We need more young people to wake up, and say NO to Obama’s agenda.
We are on our way to another Holocaust, if the Government is not reined in.

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- afishfarted
  Posted on January 14, 2013 at 2:54pm
  Yes, but she wouln’t have woken up if it weren’t for her parents. THEY are the ones who guided her in her life–as they should. Kudos to them for raising her to stand up for her beliefs, and kudos for standing beside her. We need ore parents like them
  
  Report this comment
- Gorp
  Posted on January 14, 2013 at 2:56pm
  I wonder how many seconds in a microwave it would take to burn up the RFID chip?
  
  Report this comment
- Maji
  Posted on January 14, 2013 at 3:08pm
  Take the badge and carry it in a “magnetized’ money clip.
  
  Report this comment
- skunk
  Posted on January 14, 2013 at 3:22pm
  Get some copper screen material and build a faraday cage around it. It would take her all of 5 minutes to make.
  
  Report this comment
SocialistSlayer
Posted on January 14, 2013 at 2:30pm
The Supreme Court has been Neutralized – Communist obama’s SS has threatened them and their families with death unless they rule in their favor – Ask that Wimpy Chief Justice !

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- Oldphoto678
  Posted on January 15, 2013 at 6:13am
  That’s just about the most simple minded thing I’ve ever read.
  
  Report this comment
JB4JS
Posted on January 14, 2013 at 2:25pm
Prophesies continue to play out…slowly but surely. Stay watchful, folks.

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
WeStateMedia
Posted on January 14, 2013 at 2:25pm
15 years old? Let’s be honest, she probably has a smart phone, thus she’s already being tracked or has the ability to do so. This card is no different then activating the GPS function on your phone. May as well learn to deal with it or learn to live without it. It was only a matter of time before all of this shenanigans reared its ugly head.

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
mcsledge
Posted on January 14, 2013 at 2:12pm
For now, they should feel fortunate that it has not been implanted in them. With our move to communism, this form of tracking will only become more intrusive.

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
Locked
Posted on January 14, 2013 at 2:08pm
Sure looks like a mark on the hand or forehead to me!

… oh wait. No, sorry, this girl’s family is nuts for putting her up to this. There’s a legitimate case to be made about security and privacy issues, but not a religious one. She’s already using the original student ID… and she didn’t seem to have a problem with that.

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- pavepaws
  Posted on January 14, 2013 at 2:22pm
  I’m sure her smart phone doesn’t track her either.
  
  Report this comment
- SquidVetOhio
  Posted on January 14, 2013 at 2:45pm
  It’s called principle. You should be thanking her.
  
  Report this comment
- Locked
  Posted on January 15, 2013 at 7:17am
  Thank her for wasting the school’s money and time on a frivolous lawsuit, Squid? No thanks. I’m generally against obstructionism and tilting windmills.
  
  Report this comment
Calm Voice of Reason
Posted on January 14, 2013 at 2:00pm
I don’t see how she could have expected to win by basing her argument of such religious grounds. It isn’t enough to show that this system is “comparable” to a “mark of the beast”; it either is or isn’t and one must present sufficient evidence in order to establish it. Stronger cases can be made on grounds of personal liberty and privacy. The religion argument won’t get anywhere.

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
SmokeyBehr
Posted on January 14, 2013 at 2:00pm
She needs one of those RFID blocking ID holders so she can’t be tracked. Otherwise, she can put the card in the microwave for about 10 seconds.

I’m personally against using RFID for any kind of simple tracking, like what Northside ISD is trying to do. RFID is fine for access control (opening doors/gates to those authorized), or for inventory control, like self-checkout at the Library.

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- booger71
  Posted on January 14, 2013 at 2:40pm
  Putting a small hole in the chip will render it useless also, problem solved.
  
  Report this comment
- PK_SEA
  Posted on January 14, 2013 at 3:51pm
  Agreed. Just take the card and destroy the chip, although she probably needs the chip to open secured doors on campus.
  
  Report this comment
1_Smoot_Tall
Posted on January 14, 2013 at 1:51pm
Home school or you’re crazy.

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- encinom
  Posted on January 14, 2013 at 2:12pm
  home schoolers are crazy.
  
  Report this comment
- ares338
  Posted on January 14, 2013 at 2:42pm
  No ENCINOM is CRAZY!
  
  Report this comment
- Diane TX
  Posted on January 14, 2013 at 2:45pm
  @ Encino M
  
  I’m sure that a delusional person like yourself believes that your opinions are important, but they’re not. Now run along.
  
  Report this comment
- Brentley
  Posted on January 14, 2013 at 4:56pm
  I agree…HOME School and leave the government out of it. Teach what they need to graduate. TEACH biblical principles. Use bible as the final authority for all things and you are better off short and long term, especially LONG TERM. Study to show thyself approved unto GOD a workman that needeth not to be ashamed rightly dividing the WORD of TRUTH…that is what we need more of rather than ROBOTS.
  
  Report this comment
- CloudNine
  Posted on January 14, 2013 at 10:59pm
  @ Encinom –
  Enema (aka Encinom) is offering “it’s” wisdom on the topic for today! I am always amazed at how your comments reflect such little intellectual capacity. Is it hard to breathe with your head up your “arse”? For those of you unfamiliar with this quack, ignore “it”. There’s never a relevant thought, comment or statement from Encinom’s input! Hey “Enema”, you still have that Rod Serling “Fathead” on your wall?
  
  Report this comment
seek.the.truth
Posted on January 14, 2013 at 1:49pm
Where are the other parents in this school district? I find it very hard to believe that no other parent has objections to this ID — not only for religious reasons, but also privacy issues. Does no one find it disturbing that the school is tracking their children?

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- ranepowel
  Posted on January 14, 2013 at 3:08pm
  Tracking their children while on school property isn’t a privacy issue. If you’re child isn’t where they are supposed to be, either because they are slacking off or kidnapped, then the parents are sure as hell going to want to know why the school didn’t know any better.
  
  It’s not like the school is tracking kids when they leave the building and go home, or go on vacation. I have no problem with children, especially younger children, being tracked and accounted for at all times while on a school campus. That’s not a violation of their rights, because they have no rights as adults.
  
  Report this comment
- PK_SEA
  Posted on January 14, 2013 at 4:01pm
  Just leave the card in the locker, problem solved.
  
  Report this comment
- seek.the.truth
  Posted on January 14, 2013 at 4:22pm
  You could leave the card in the locker, but as anyone who has kids will tell you, kids forget.
  
  Ranepowel- even if the school does not track them once they leave school grounds, the personal information contained on the ID can be obtained by anyone with a scanner.
  
  Report this comment
- VRW Conspirator
  Posted on January 14, 2013 at 5:29pm
  @Seek and Rane
  the RFID in ID badges for companies, schools, and government institutions is currently used primarily to open doors and limit access to only those places you wish an employee, student, or client to have access too..
  
  NISD seems to be trying to expand this to a system that will catalog whether a given student is in class and on campus. That means they are using the system to track individuals and could then tell when you leave campus and subsequently use ANY RFID system they gain access to for monitoring of your location. Granted, all this young lady would have to do is leave the ID in her locker, put it on while on campus and take it off before going home, tracking stopped.
  
  We use them on our campus for the staff. I have always wondered why schools DON’T require all students to carry a badge that knows their schedule, which rooms they need access too, which common areas like the gym/locker rooms, and then lock down all outside doors. How could any attacker or gunman get into a school to attack if they didn’t already have the ID? Seeing as most are mentally ill in some way, I doubt they would plan ahead like that. If they were staff or student, then you would immediately know who they were and which room.
  
  Granted, for door access RFID is fine, for actually seeing where they are, as GPS, no way. But with guberment as it is, they never just stop at one place, so you have to vote NO to all, shame…
  
  Report this comment
- seek.the.truth
  Posted on January 14, 2013 at 5:47pm
  VRW – thanks for the first-hand information.
  
  Report this comment
Cavallo
Posted on January 14, 2013 at 1:48pm
Private or Home School. The odds are significantly greater that you will receive a better education from just about anywhere other than the government. Government schools are cesspools of ignorance, and indoctrination. They’re more interested in teaching about proper condom use and homosexual technique than the reasons for the entry into WWII. American public education is a sad sick joke, and it isn’t because we’re not throwing enough rat hole money at it.

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
WhiteFang
Posted on January 14, 2013 at 1:45pm
Wear the I.D. card when in school, take it off when you go home.
Simple solution I would think.

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
The-Monk
Posted on January 14, 2013 at 1:41pm
“Invading Child privacy…”

I’d like know… does she have any of the following?

A Facebook account
A Twitter account
A Smartphone
A MySpace account
A Google + account
Any of the other social media accounts that track what you do and/or where you are?

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- SquidVetOhio
  Posted on January 14, 2013 at 2:50pm
  What does that have to do with anything. Because you voluntarily allow a private organization to collect information from you, you shouldn’t object to the State doing it? She can opt out of the others voluntarily. This is an important precedent. I don’t know that she believes her ID card is ” the mark of the beast ” but, it is a slippery slope that can lead to it.
  
  Freedom loving people should be thanking this girl.
  
  Report this comment
lawrench
Posted on January 14, 2013 at 1:40pm
It is the beginning of the end for this country. Our government has found itself unwilling to uphold religious beliefs of non-muslims. #TOTHEPOINT is correct that if it was a Muslim student, this would not have gone as far as it has. Anything to mock Christians and Jews, sounds like we are already living under the Sharia Law. Next, the government will allow beheadings because it is part of the religion of Islam.

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
media-bias-steals-elections
Posted on January 14, 2013 at 1:31pm
The “Mark of the Beast” can easily be interpreted to mean “technology”, and like it or not, the civil rights of Americans to run around “naked” from such new “intellectual property” is of course reserved. Creators of such intellectual property bear a responsibility not to impose such property on the civil rights of others.

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- john vincent
  Posted on January 14, 2013 at 2:23pm
  -media bias-
  
  ‘The easy interpretation’ is technology, and to some degree that is correct. Certainly without the web this would make the mark of the beast that much more difficult to implement, but there are other opinions, and I’d to submit one that is no doubt very low on the possibility list.
  
  http://sienna48.blog.com/2010/09/02/the-mark-3/
  
  Report this comment
tothepoint
Posted on January 14, 2013 at 1:24pm
If she were a Muslin, they would’ve bowed down to her by now.

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- WillG
  Posted on January 14, 2013 at 1:31pm
  Sad but true.
  
  Report this comment

It appears that you have Javascript Disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser preferences for a better user experience on TheBlaze. You can not comment without Javascript enabled.