John, we did it.
We just declared a major victory for Shawn McBreairty and parents everywhere.
Regional School Unit 22’s School Board agreed to settle Shawn’s case by paying Shawn $40,000.
As you may recall, when Shawn saw some of the radical things being taught at his daughter’s school, he was rightfully outraged.
Like parents across the country, he started showing up to school board meetings to voice his disapproval and fight for his daughter’s education.
He never broke any laws or violated the school’s policies.
But to make an example out of him, the School Board banned him from meetings, functions and events – including his own daughter’s graduation – and then sued him!
There was no legal or moral justification for what they did.
It was an abuse of power plain and simple.
They thought they could leverage a lawsuit to silence Shawn.
Of course, this was a blatant violation of Shawn’s First Amendment rights.
So, we filed a federal lawsuit against the school board for its gross violation of Shawn’s rights.
And, with your help, we were able to right a terrible wrong.
I would point your attention to the quote our Executive Director Mark Trammell gave in the press this morning:
“Not only is this an important victory for our client, Shawn McBreairty, it is an important victory for parents across the country who will now see Shawn’s success here and know that the law is on their side. Parents are their kids’ own best advocate and their right to seek redress from government officials, including school boards, is sacrosanct to the First Amendment.”
I couldn’t agree more.
School boards and educators answer to parents – not the other way around.
However, the fight is not over yet.
The Hermon School Department is still pursuing legal action against Shawn in state court where we’ve filed an Anti-SLAPP to dismiss their ridiculous lawsuit immediately.
But, with your support, I’m confident that we’ll prevail in the state courts just like we already have in the federal courts.
Thank you for making this victory possible.
