You may recall the plight of Stephen Murmur, butt-print artist. He's the art teacher from Virginia who was fired in December 2006 after his students discovered a video of him creating his masterpieces: that is, dipping has ass in paint and sitting on the canvas. Backed by the ACLU, he sued the school district for violating his free speech. As the ACLU noted, "the paintings were produced at Murmer's own expense and during his private time away from work."

And he won. Last week the school board decided to settle with Murmer for $65,000 -- the equivalent of two years' salary as an art teacher. The board continues to maintain that they were right to fire a teacher who inspired his students to think differently about the world: "The School Board strongly believes that its decision was justified based on its core values and the disruption in the classrooms," Chairwoman Dianne E. Pettitt said. They chose to settle, she continued, only because of the cost of litigation and "the risks, however remote, that the court would reinstate the teacher to the classroom."

Despite the cruelty and ignorance of her words (these are high school kids, for god's sake. They watch South Park. They have the internet. A man painting with his genitals doesn't make the top ten corrupting influences they encounter every day), Murmer is satisfied with the settlement. In a statement emailed directly to PoopReport (and in his email to me, he specifically thanks PoopReporters for their support), he says:

"The support I received from students, colleagues, parents and communities near and far was overwhelming. Thank you so much for standing with me.

"I'm pleased with this settlement. We've succeeded in making Chesterfield public school officials accountable for their actions. My hope is that this case will cause schools to think twice before dismissing teachers over expressive activities conducted outside of the classroom. Teachers are a hardworking dedicated team of professionals.

"This settlement represents a vindication of the First Amendment. This lawsuit was filed because Americans should not be afraid to express themselves within their First Amendment rights.

"My plans are to continuing my teaching outside of Chesterfield and to continue to create art."