In September 2023, Parents Defending Education (PDE) filed an amicus (“friend of the court”) brief asking the U.S. Supreme Court to hear Speech First, Inc. v. Sands, a challenge to Virginia Tech’s bias-response team. PDE’s brief explained how the same kind of teams now found on most college campuses are spreading into K-12 schools. A PDE investigation found that well over 2 million K-12 students are already subject to them, in at least 22 states and the District of Columbia.
According to the brief, bias-response teams usually work like this:
- a policy defines “bias incidents” so loosely that it covers almost any perceived slight, such as a “microinsult”
- the focus is on feelings, not intent or facts, and anyone, even someone outside the school, can file an anonymous complaint
- a diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) official investigates, often without telling the student or parents, and then decides the punishment, which can include suspension, expulsion, a police referral, a “healing circle,” or “reeducation”
The result is silence. Few students will risk speaking on a controversial topic when it could mean an investigation, public shaming on social media, or worse. PDE argued that the pressure these teams put on students to censor themselves is obvious, and that it violates the First Amendment. PDE urged the Court to take the case.
Read the full brief below:
