At the State University of New York (SUNY), the student government initially hesitated to recognize the Turning Point USA (TPUSA) chapter two students wanted to start on campus because it disagreed with the conservative organization's views.
Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) attorney Mathew Hoffmann says a meeting with the student government did not go well.
"For around a hundred minutes, various student senators who had the power to recognize the group and … even a professor demeaned the group's views, criticized them, and interrogated them about their views – all of which is improper under the First Amendment," he reports.
So, ADF took legal action on behalf of the two TPUSA members.
"We filed the lawsuit in February," says Hoffmann. "Only a couple weeks later, the university … through the student government recognized our chapter, I think because they realized there was clear viewpoint discrimination. And then we worked with them to get policy revisions."
The university and the student government were also assessed $42,000 for damages and attorney fees.
In Cedar Grove, New Jersey, parents have won a lawsuit over diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) surveys that violated their rights.
The Department of Education found that the school system acted unlawfully by not giving K-12 students in 2021 the option to opt out of taking the surveys that asked about sensitive topics like religion, demographic background, and gender identity.
"The Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA), which is a federal law that was passed in the '70s, provides them the right to opt out of these kind of surveys," notes Ian Prior of America First Legal.
That law also gives parents the opportunity to access curriculum for their children at these schools.
So though it took a while to get the case going, Prior says the persistent pushing paid off. In addition to this significant victory, America First Legal has also been notified that their case compelled the Department of Education to conduct an investigation.
"Lo and behold, they found out that this school district did, in fact, violate the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment and ordered the school district to show that they were going to be in compliance with it by the end of September of this year," the attorney relays.
He thinks this is one of the first times, if not the first time, there has been an investigation of the PPRA, which Prior says is a tool for parents to use to hold schools accountable and "get a seat at the table" when it comes to their kids' education.
