Problem:
Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) denied Matthew Foldi and Bethany Mandel access to a June 27, 2023, school board meeting following community uproar against LGBT-themed books required in MCPS curriculum and the district’s removal of parent’s ability to “opt-out” of woke curriculum. MCPS only allowed invited attendees and pre-selected speakers to physically attend the open-session school board meeting on this topic. MCPS limited access to the meeting to prevent an overwhelming number of people protesting MCPS’ policies from assembling in the meeting room, to avoid media coverage, and to mitigate the political impact of the district’s policy denying parents their opt-out rights. But in doing so, the rights of our clients were violated.
Action:
AFL sued Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) Board of Education and MCPS Superintendent Monifa McKnight for violating our clients’ First Amendment and Maryland Open Meetings Act (“OMA”) rights.
Result:
AFL VICTORY. The court found that school officials who blocked users with dissenting viewpoints on controversial, political topics from the Montgomery County Public School’s “Staff Pride” Twitter account may have violated the First Amendment.
Links:
- America First Legal Sues Montgomery County Public School’s Board of Education for Violating the First Amendment Rights of Citizens by Denying Them Access to School Board Meetings
- VICTORY–Court Rules Montgomery County School Officials Suppressed Dissent and May Have Violated First Amendment by Blocking Users from School’s Twitter Account
