New York City, NY — New York City parents have scored a major early victory in their fight to protect their free speech rights against NYC education officials.
Institute for Free Speech attorneys, representing plaintiffs Deborah Alexander, Maud Maron, and Noah Harlan, secured a crucial win in their ongoing First Amendment lawsuit late last night, when a federal judge granted a preliminary injunction in favor of the three parent leaders. The injunction bars enforcement of unconstitutional speech policies and protects the parents’ right to speak freely at council meetings and on social media.
The court’s decision prevents New York City education officials from enforcing unconstitutional speech restrictions and orders Maud Maron’s immediate reinstatement to Community Education Council 2 (CEC 2), from which she was removed in June. CECs are New York City educational bodies that are analogous to school boards.
New York City Public Schools’ Chancellor David Banks removed Maron from office under a policy called Regulation D-210, which governs the speech of CEC members and members of similar citywide advisory boards, including their private speech outside of school board meetings. Banks removed Maron for criticizing an anonymous anti-Israel editorialist, after she and other elected CEC members brought suit challenging Regulation D-210’s restrictions on their speech. The court found that the plaintiffs showed a clear likelihood of success in proving this policy to be unconstitutional, and that Maron must be reinstated to her elective office.
The preliminary injunction also bars enforcement of CEC 14’s “Community Guidelines” and “Community Commitments,” which officials had used to punish the speech of parent leaders, banning them from meetings and blocking them on social media after the parents criticized CEC 14’s strongly anti-Israel worldview. The court found that these CEC 14 rules likely violate the First Amendment by discriminating against speakers based on viewpoint. The court also blocked enforcement of a rule that bars parents from criticizing the “competence or personal conduct” of individuals, including school officials and employees, at CEC 14 school board meetings.
“This ruling sends an unmistakable message that the First Amendment does not allow New York City’s Department of Education to function as a Department of Conformity,” said Institute for Free Speech Vice President for Litigation Alan Gura. “The court recognized that education officials cannot silence dissenting voices or remove elected parent leaders simply because they express views that others find offensive, or because they exercise their right to criticize public officials. The ruling also protects democracy in New York City. When the city’s voters elect someone to speak for them in public office, she can’t be silenced just because city officials dislike her speech.”
The case will now proceed with the preliminary injunction in place.
To read the full order in the case, Alexander, et al. v. Sutton, et al., click here. To read our original press release about the filing of the case, click here. To review all of the filings and background materials on the case, please see the full case page here.
About the Institute for Free Speech
The Institute for Free Speech promotes and defends the political speech rights to freely speak, assemble, publish, and petition the government guaranteed by the First Amendment.
