Court Upholds Parental Rights Over School's Baseless Policy

The federal courts are clear in their ruling last 25 June. California officials should not hide information about students from their parents.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit granted a preliminary injunction preventing officials from enforcing Sections 5 and 6 of Assembly Bill 1955 against the plaintiff parents in City of Huntington Beach v. Newsom with respect to information about their own children.

The decision relied heavily on the U.S. Supreme Court's March ruling in the related case Mirabelli v. Bonta. There, the justices said parents challenging California's student confidentiality policies were "likely to succeed on the merits" of claims under the First Amendment's Free Exercise Clause and the 14th Amendment's Due Process Clause.

The Supreme Court lifted a stay that had prevented a lower court injunction from taking effect for the parent plaintiffs while that case proceeds.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed AB 1955, known as the SAFETY Act, in July 2024. The law prohibits school districts from disclosing information about a student's sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression without the student's consent. It also protects school employees from retaliation for supporting LGBTQ+ students.

The measure came amid a national fight over policies requiring schools to notify parents when students use different names or pronouns or otherwise express a gender identity at school that differs from the sex they were assigned at birth.

Opponents argue that the law infringes on parents' constitutional right to direct their children's upbringing and prevents families from learning important information about their children. America First Legal represents the parents challenging AB 1955 in the Huntington Beach case.

"It's far past time for California officials and school districts to realize they can't legally use our kids to conduct gender transition experiments at school," Liberty Justice Center senior counsel Timothy Snowball said in a separate June 2 statement addressing California school policies.

"Parents have a right, both legally and morally, to direct their own children's education. This includes knowing essential information about their health, well-being, and education."