In an opinion piece for American Greatness, Southeastern Legal Foundation’s General Counsel Kimberly Hermann slams the Department of Justice, Attorney General Merrick Garland, and the National School Board Association for its attempts to investigate, intimidate, and silence parents advocating for their childrens’ rights.
In the piece, Hermann explains:
One of the hallmarks of totalitarian tyranny is the use of the awesome power of government to investigate, stifle, and silence criticism.
Attorney General Merrick Garland this week added to the mounting evidence that such enforcement is also entirely selective, based on the political agenda of the government in power. At issue are thousands of parents stepping forward to question curriculum and policy decisions made by public school boards and administrators—an inconvenient truth for the progressive Left.
In response to parents speaking up at school board meetings, the National School Board Association stepped in and demanded the Biden Administration to declare that parents speaking up for their children are “domestic terrorists.” A mere four days later, Garland ordered the FBI to take action to “protect” school board members, who are government officials, from parents disagreeing with school board policies ranging from mask mandates to the teaching of critical race theory in the nation’s public schools.
Hermann continues:
The First Amendment guarantees the right “. . . to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” Public schools are arms of the government. The speed with which our government has moved from open public comment to cutting off parents and teachers when they speak at meetings, including calls to end public comment altogether, is startling.
Make no mistake about it, the American culture war is real. This is not news. Garland’s order declares that in the coming days the federal government will develop new measures to report, assess, and respond to anything it deems is “intimidation” or “harassment.” Is the Biden Administration using its power selectively? Yes. Is it ignoring the Constitution? Yes.
Garland’s order reinforces a point some on the Right have been arguing for decades: The most important battleground in the struggle to save our American republic is the public schools. To the courageous parents speaking up, criticizing, advocating, and going to court if necessary—you have rights, and you must protect them. Free speech is the dread of tyrants, so we cannot let tyranny win.