ADF: FL school district can't pick which views to allow in public debate

ATLANTA – On behalf of Young America’s Foundation, Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys filed a proposed friend-of-the-court brief Monday with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit, urging it to reject government interference in public debate when public school officials pick and choose which views to allow. In the case, Moms for Liberty–Brevard County v. Brevard Public Schools, Brevard Public Schools maintains an overly broad policy that bans any “statement” that board members subjectively deem “abusive” at board of education meetings.

“Too often, public universities and schools weaponize their speech policies to censor unpopular—yet protected—speech,” said ADF Legal Counsel Mathew Hoffmann. “Whether it’s a parent voicing concerns at a school board meeting or a student on a college campus discussing a current issue, Americans are free to express their views. The government doesn’t get to decide which views it will accept and which views are ‘offensive’ or ‘abusive.’ We urge the 11th Circuit to make clear that freedom of speech is for everyone, and that it’s unlawful for the government to interfere in public debate.”

Moms for Liberty is an organization that, like YAF, exists to engage in public debate that the First Amendment protects. Moms for Liberty’s mission includes advocating for parental rights at school board meetings. Again, just like YAF, the group retains a commitment to civil dialogue. But it also remains steadfast in advocating for its views on important issues of public debate.

Brevard Public Schools’ prohibition on “abusive” speech allows district officials to unlawfully discriminate against certain points of view with which they disagree. For example, officials censored a member of Moms for Liberty who criticized “administer[ing] hormone blocking drugs to small children in the process of transitioning their gender,” claiming the speaker’s comments “insult[ed] half of [the] audience” and “were personally-directed, abusive, and irrelevant.”

In their brief, ADF attorneys note that “YAF believes that robust debate on all sides of issues furthers the academic functioning of schools and universities…. Free speech—not censorship—promotes true understanding and allows all of us to remain faithful to the individual liberties that make our country great. YAF therefore has a strong interest in ensuring that government policies do not license viewpoint discrimination. Those policies—as YAF has time and again observed—will be weaponized to squelch disfavored speech.”

“The First Amendment guarantees the right of every American to express their opinions, especially unpopular ones,” said YAF Vice President and General Counsel Vic Bernson. “It is a bedrock principle of our nation and one that ensures no individual voice can be silenced. Yet, on college campuses across the country, our students are engaged in a daily struggle against school administrators and leftist student governments who want only one ideology heard: theirs. YAF students will continue to stand in the gap, ensuring the flame of liberty is never extinguished.”

Alliance Defending Freedom is an alliance-building, non-profit legal organization committed to protecting religious freedom, free speech, parental rights, and the sanctity of life.

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