DOJ memo directs Civil Rights Division to I.D. threats to parental rights in schools

The Department of Justice this week issued a memo directing the Civil Rights Division to work with federal, state, and local partners to identify threats to parental rights and free speech in education.

"Recent years have seen a disturbing trend in which state and local authorities have brought radical gender and racial ideology into our public schools while suppressing dissenting viewpoints," Attorney General Pam Bondi wrote in the memo. "Worse still, they have ignored, dismissed, and even retaliated against concerned parents who speak out against these morally and factually bankrupt ideologies and in defense of their own children."

"The First Amendment guarantees the right of every citizen to speak freely, assemble peaceably, and petition the government for redress of grievances-including at public school board meetings," she added. "These rights do not yield to political trends or bureaucratic convenience. While schools must maintain order, such authority cannot be used as a pretext to silence dissent or punish parents for expressing their views."

She further highlighted the religious rights of parents to exempt their children from instruction contrary to their beliefs, specifically pointing gender and sexual orientation-related issues.

"We are restoring the rule of law and returning the federal government to the people it serves. This Department stands with America's parents," she concluded.