Attorney General Pamela Bondi issued a memorandum to all United States Attorneys highlighting the Department of Justice’s policy to prevent and act upon violations of parental rights and First Amendment liberties in educational settings.
Bondi directed United States Attorneys to work with federal, state, and local partners to identify and respond to credible threats against parents whose federal rights have been violated.
20250908-AG-Bondi-Memo by scott.mcclallen
"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," the memo said. "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.
The new memo says it will protect the right of parents to dissent during school board meetings.
"Let me be clear: when school board members, administrators, and other government officials threaten law-abiding parents, they can and will be held accountable," the letter said.
For example, when Michigan mom Sandra Hernden criticized her school board for only providing remote learning to her son in 2020 who has special needs, the school board reported Hernden as a possible domestic terrorist to her employer and the federal government, according to a lawsuit.
2022.09.29 Complaint (Filed) by scott.mcclallen
In 2021, the National School Boards Association sent a letter to Former Former President Joe Biden that compared parents who opposed COVID regulations such as masks as “domestic terrorists.”
2021 09 29 NSBA Letter to President Biden Concerning Threats to Public Schools and School Board Members 92921 by scott.mcclallen
Under the leadership of President Trump and General Bondi, parents’ First Amendment rights – and their “fundamental right to direct the moral and religious education of their children” – will be protected from unlawful attacks.
United States Attorney Ellis Boyle stated, “Here in the Eastern District of North Carolina, parents should feel safe to raise their children in accord with their religion and customs and as the Supreme Court recently recognized in Mahmoud v. Taylor to protect them from the radical ideology that has infiltrated our schools. We will protect parental rights when parents interact with their children’s schools. To promote this and inform parents across the District, we shared a copy of the Attorney General’s memo with all county boards of education in the EDNC, the North Carolina Department of Education, the Speaker of the North Carolina House of Representatives, and the President Pro Tempore of the North Carolina Senate. Let me be very clear – here in Eastern North Carolina, we fully support the Attorney General’s policy, and we will act quickly to enforce it. Conspiring to violate constitutional rights is a crime under federal law. We will enforce these laws.”