Lawsuit Filed by Parents Labelled as ‘Threats’ Dismissed by Federal Judge

A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit filed by a group of parents who objected to being labeled as terrorists for protesting school district policies.

After the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) characterized as “domestic terrorists” parents across the country who protested at school board meetings and similar venues, parents from two different states sued Attorney General Merrick Garland.

The lawsuit claimed the rights of those who want to voice their opinions and object to the teaching of far-left ideology in public schools are being restricted. The suit also alleged labeling Americans as domestic terrorists unconstitutionally criminalizes their speech.

District Judge Dabney Friedrich, appointed by former President Donald Trump, dismissed the claims.

In October 2021, Attorney General Merrick Garland issued a memo stating the DOJ would use its power and resources to prosecute parents who represent a threat to school board members, teachers, and staff. The order came in response to the National School Boards Association requesting Garland take action against parents across the country.

A few days later, a group of parents from Saline, Michigan and Loudon County, Virginia filed a lawsuit against Garland.

“Parents are being attacked by their own government at this point,” Attorney Luis Robles told Heartland Daily News. “They’re attacking parents just for saying, ‘Hey, I’m not ok with this curriculum you’re teaching my child.’”

Now that parents are becoming aware of the radical curriculum and Marxist teaching that are rapidly increasing in government schools, they are speaking up to protect their children even at the risk of being labelled a threat by their own government. Parents will speak up, Robles says, the more they become aware of their right to do so.

“Many parents just sent their kids to school and so long as that kid came back home happy and was doing well in school, everything was fine.” Robles said.

As parents find out what values and ideas the schools are pushing on their children, they are becoming more vocal and active in the schools and at school board meetings, Robles says.

“Parents are rediscovering that they actually do have rights as citizens to petition the school board and the superintendent and have their concerns addressed,” Robles said.

“When you go to the state and essentially say, ‘This core curriculum that you’re teaching has these components with which we disagree,’ then there’s an administrative process to challenge it,” Robles says.

Heartland Daily News previously reported on the curricula currently of most concern to parents and citizens, including Critical Race Theory (CRT) and radical sex education. Much of this material is highly objectionable to mainstream Americans.

Until recently, school districts have been able to disregard concerns, as they generally came from only one or two parents, so they could dismiss such complaints as coming from “a crazy Mom.” Robles said. They can no longer do so because many more parents know what is going on and are reacting in much larger numbers.

“When you have a movement and the collective knowledge that they bring to it, and then they can use the same process that every democratic institution has available to it, you can see these changes,” Robles said. “Parents are learning that they have rights.”

Larry Sand, president of the California Teachers Empowerment Network, says parents have the right to decide what their children are taught.

“Families should be able to pick the best type of schooling for their children,” Sand writes in a commentary for Heartland Daily News. “So if a parent wants to send their kid to a school that teaches CRT, let them pay for it.”

“The wishes of the parents ought to matter because it’s their kids and they are the ones paying the bills,” Robles said.

Parents are not the only ones being taxed for the government schools, however, and the general public should not be forced to pay for people to teach things they fundamentally disagree with, says Sand.

“As a taxpayer, I deeply resent that money I have earned goes to schools that espouse curricula I despise,” wrote Sand. “It’s worth noting that as things stand now, the citizenry pays nearly $1 trillion a year for education, and with a smaller tax bite most families would have some newfound money to pay for their kid’s schooling.”

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