Florida parental rights activists see win in U.S. Supreme Court case
The big story: On the last day of its spring session, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling that’s getting accolades from supporters of the conservative parental rights movement.
With Mahmoud vs. Taylor, a Maryland case, the court backed efforts in Florida and elsewhere to grant parents more ability for their children to walk away from classroom content when it doesn’t match their beliefs.
The majority found that schools that do not offer opt-out provisions in advance for families to remove their children from lessons they find objectionable are placing an unconstitutional burden on families’ religious rights. It did not indicate how schools would know which materials might be challenged, a source of potential confusion.
“This ruling is a major victory,” Florida-based Moms for Liberty cofounder Tina Descovich said in a release celebrating the decision. “We don’t co-parent with the government — and we are winning!”
Legal experts suggested the court’s guidance could lead to lawsuits in other states when teachers read books in classes that some parents do not want their children exposed to, based on religion. The book in question in the Mahmoud case included LGBTQ+ themes and characters, but the challenges would not be limited to a single subject area. Read more from Associated Press and Vox.