The conservative majority of the Supreme Court provided strong support to parents seeking religious freedom.
Montgomery County, Maryland, retracted the original opt-out policy for books relating to gender and sexuality, prompting a federal lawsuit.
During the two and a half oral discussions of the marathon, the judge debated whether parents were unfairly burdened with exercising their constitutional rights.
This is one of three well-known religious-themed litigation cases that the High Court decides this term. This includes tax exemption disputes against religious groups and taxpayer funds for private religious charter schools – which will be discussed next week.
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Judge Sonia Sotomayor and her liberal colleagues appeared to support the county’s position in the storybook. She noted that the lower court of appeals has rejected a provisional injunction to temporarily restore its opt-out policy.
“They never got to the question of whether there was any confusion or what the motivation was to take away the opt-out,” Sotomayor said. “The decision was that there was no coercion here, but mere exposure. I understood from the record that the books would be on the bookshelf.
However, Judge Samuel Alito reflected the views of some of his conservative colleagues and reiterated his return to previous policies that he said most schools around the country would allow it.
“What’s the big deal about allowing them to opt out of this?” he asked.
Supreme Court Judge Samuel Alito; (AP, pool, file via Erin Schaff/The New York Times)
Alito also questioned the contents of several books filed in appeals dealing with same-sex marriage.
“I don’t think anyone can read it and say it. Well, this is just telling the kids that men have the opportunity to marry another man,” Alito said. “It has a clear moral message, and it could be a good message. It’s a message that many religious people disagree with.”
Hundreds of people on both sides of the issue gather outside the courthouse with signs such as “parent parents” and “includes all families.”
Suburban Washington County introduced a new book in 2022 that introduced LGBTQ+ characters and themes into the primary school curriculum as part of the district’s “inclusiveness” initiative.
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One of the challenged storybooks filed in the appeal is “Prince & Knight,” aged 4-8, known as a “modern fairy tale,” and of two men who fell in love together in order to threaten the kingdom and fight the dragons that would later marry.
Another book that was repeatedly mentioned in the court’s public session was “Uncle Bobby’s Wedding.”
The school district refused to allow parents to opt out
Grace Morrison is one of the parents petitioning the Supreme Court to rule that it is unconstitutional for Maryland school districts to prohibit parents from opting out. (Becquet/Getty Images)
The district refused to allow parents to opt out of primary schools from their reading programs.
The Board of Education initially allowed parents to keep their children out of this curriculum, but the plaintiffs announced that civil servants would quickly reverse the course, and that in March 2023, no exceptions were granted and that parents would not be notified before the book was introduced into the children’s classroom. Authorities cited an increase in absenteeism as one reason for the change.
“We felt as parents that when we are ready to receive them, and that it would be even more difficult to understand children with special needs, as we always do,” said Grace Morrison, one of the plaintiffs. She and her husband, the Catholic, are currently homeschooling their daughter after the school refused to accommodate her.
“Starting to present such children with gender ideological issues can be very confusing and damaging, let alone the faith that we are raising her,” she told Fox News Digital.
The federal court of appeals ruled the school district and concluded that educators would not pressure children to abandon their religious beliefs. “Just listening to other views does not necessarily pressure us to act differently than what religious faith requires.”
State officials told the court that parents who chose to send their children to public schools were not “forced” by touching classrooms with ideas that are religiously opposed.
The actual feasibility of the opt-out policy was a key focus of the public High Court session.
“Once we clarify those rules,” Judge Elena Kagan said.
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However, Kagan also raised concerns that young children were exposed to some of the books offered in Montgomery County.
“I was also impressed by the picture books of these young children and the issues of sexuality. I think there are a lot of less religious parents who aren’t that excited about this.”
Judge Brett Kavanaugh said he grew up in a wealthy county and lives with his wife and two school-age daughters, but said it was “mysticized” as to why the county canceled its original opt-out policy.
Some of the benches expressed concern about the “a la carte” discretionary discretion that parents must oppose going to school.
“How about trans students in the classroom?” Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson said. “There are students in the class. Should the teacher inform the parents of their students and opt out to notify them of the presence of the student and not in the same classroom as this child?”
Dozens of briefs have been submitted by advocacy groups on both sides of the issue, including a competing coalition of states and lawmakers.
Deputy Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson is standing in Washington’s Supreme Court building on October 7, 2022, as she and members of the Supreme Court will raise a new group portrait after her addition.
Many educators should be respected to develop lesson plans that reflect the entire community, and say that classroom instruction and collaboration can be very problematic when flooding individual religious rights claims.
Parental rights and religious organizations should not be forced to participate in reading activities that undermine family teaching and spirituality. The Beckett Fund for Religious Freedom, representing the parents who sued, called school policies “forced leadership.”
The Trump administration supports parents and says, in a simple and simple written statement that the board’s opt-out policy “compensates parents’ ability to act consistent with them.” [religious] Belief, whether children put pressure or force their instructions. ”
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The case is Mahmoudv. This is Taylor (24-297). A ruling is expected before the court’s summer break in late June.
Christine Parks and Jessica Sonkin contributed to this report.
Shannon Bream is currently serving as an anchor for Fox News Sunday. She joined the network in 2007 as a Washington, D.C.-based correspondent covering the Supreme Court.
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