Commentary

McBreairty v. Brewer School Department

McBreairty v. Brewer School Department

School threatens parent for exposing school policies endangering children.

Parents have a right to know what is happening behind closed doors at their child’s school—especially if school policies can harm children or infringe on parental rights. That’s why journalist, educational advocate, and parent Shawn McBreairty publishes articles about his local school department’s policies and actions.

But when Shawn raised the alarm about a dangerous district-wide “bathroom policy” allowing boys to enter girls’ restrooms in schools, Brewer School Department censored him.

School districts across the country are enacting similar radical policies that violate young girls’ privacy by opening private facilities to the opposite sex. Parents and students widely condemned these policies after reports of sexual assaults and after female students voiced concerns about sharing these private shared spaces with boys.

At Brewer High School, a group of students drafted a petition asking school officials to change the policy and protect girls’ privacy. They circulated the petition to great success, with hundreds of students signing it. However, radical Leftist school officials caught wind of the petition and immediately shut it down.

These officials directly threatened students, telling these teenagers they could be charged with a “hate crime” for merely voicing their opinion that boys should not be in girls’ bathrooms and locker rooms.

When Shawn heard about this incident, he immediately published an article describing what happened and criticizing the school district for violating the students’ free speech. He encouraged parents to speak out against the policy at an upcoming school board meeting.

Apparently, such criticism was too much for school officials. One single day after Shawn published his article, the school department demanded that Shawn take down the article or face legal action.

Instead of listening to Shawn’s concerns—and the concerns of hundreds of students directly affected by the bathroom policy—the school district threatened him with legal action.

Shawn is now suing the Brewer School Department and the officials who prevented him from exercising his First Amendment right to express his opinions, both as a parent and a journalist.

This case is about our most basic freedoms. The government can’t silence open discourse or opposing viewpoints.

A victory for Shawn is a victory for all Americans’ right to free speech.

McBreairty v. Brewer School Department