A group of 17 state attorneys generals submitted a letter Monday to President Joe Biden arguing that the Justice Department has been attempting to quell lawful speech by parents at school board meetings, conservative journalist Gregg Jarett reported.
“Over the last year, we have advised our constituencies of their constitutional right to free speech and encouraged public engagement to voice their opinions on important issues affecting their country, state, and communities, especially parents who have concerns about their children’s education,” the letter stated.
“Your recent action seeks to chill lawful dissent by parents voiced during local school board meetings by characterizing them as unlawful and threatening.”
The letter followed an Oct. 4 memorandum issued by the DOJ, instructing the FBI to crack down on an alleged uprising of parents against teachers and school board representatives.
Monday’s letter went on to argue that the memorandum from US Attorney General Merrick Garland was “based upon a flawed premise” and was being used as a cudgel to intimidate concerned parents into silence.
The GOP-led group also referenced the First and 14th amendment rights “of parents and guardians to direct the upbringing and education of their children.”
Garland’s Oct. 4 memorandum was issued in response to a claim by the National School Boards Association that there had been an increase in threats of violence and “domestic terrorism” against school staff, particularly board members.
“The vast majority of incidents that NSBA cites involved disruptive and disorderly conduct rather than threats,” the state attorneys general rebutted. “In fact, in no known instance, has there been anything like the burning, looting, police assaults, vandalism and other criminal activity that occurred in the summer of 2020.”
They suggested that Garland and the partisan DOJ might have better things to do than insert themselves into the highly charged debate over school indoctrination and other leftist policies being foisted upon vulnerable students.
“Surely the FBI and the Department of Justice have to attend to, like the massive spike in murders in major cities throughout the United States,” the letter said.
“Our country’s law enforcement efforts should be focused on this rise in crime instead of harassing and intimidating parents that petition local governments to better serve their children,” it continued. “These parents want the best for their children and are willing to challenge school leaders who seek to supplant their God-given authority to raise their children according to their values.”
