“Over the past century, the Supreme Court has made abundantly clear that students have robust First Amendment rights – and that education officials may not trample on these rights at their pleasure. Silencing unpopular viewpoints and compelling the speech of students in a public school system is fundamentally un-American.”
Nicole Neily, President and Founder of Parents Defending Education
On June 12, 2024, Parents Defending Education (PDE) sued New York’s Croton-Harmon Union Free School District in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. PDE argues the district’s policies violate students’ First Amendment rights in three ways: they discriminate against certain viewpoints, they force students to affirm beliefs about sex and gender that go against their own, and they ban a wide range of everyday speech that the Constitution protects.
The lawsuit argues:
- The speech codes favor some views over others. The district bans “unwelcome,” “offensive,” and “hate[ful]” speech about some protected groups but not all. That lets officials punish students whose views differ from the district’s on topics like “gender identity,” “sexual orientation,” “race,” and “immigration,” while protecting students who agree.
- Students are afraid to speak. PDE’s members say their children hold back their views or keep their beliefs to themselves for fear of threats or backlash from administrators.
- The policies break with Supreme Court precedent. The Supreme Court has made clear that students do not lose their free speech rights “at the schoolhouse gate,” and that schools can’t force students to affirm beliefs they reject.
- The district’s DEI approach makes things worse. Croton-Harmon weaves Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) into its curriculum and discipline. Students could be punished for refusing to accept a narrative that labels Israelis as oppressors and Palestinians as oppressed, or for affirming concepts like “traditional marriage,” “there are only two sexes,” “support of Israel,” and “legal immigration.”
PDE asks the court to declare that these policies violate the First and Fourteenth Amendments.
Read the full complaint below:
