DeAngelis v. Pulaski County Board of Education

Victory for Free Speech: The Liberty Justice Center secured a major First Amendment victory on behalf of Corey DeAngelis—the nation’s leading “school choice evangelist” and a board member of the Liberty Justice Center—in a federal lawsuit against a Kentucky school district.

Under the terms of a federal consent decree entered on July 2, the Pulaski County School District agreed to protect against viewpoint-based discrimination on its official social media platforms and to provide mandatory First Amendment and transparency training to its communications staff. The district has also agreed to pay attorneys’ fees incurred during the litigation.

Case Background: The Liberty Justice Center filed a lawsuit to hold a Kentucky school district accountable for violating the First Amendment rights of one of its board members, educational advocate Corey DeAngelis.

Throughout the fall of 2024, public officials and school districts across Kentucky violated state law by illegally using taxpayer resources to lobby against Amendment 2—a proposed constitutional amendment that would have allowed the state to expand educational opportunities across Kentucky.

On August 11, 2024, the Pulaski County School District illegally posted messages lobbying against Amendment 2 to its official social media pages and website. When Mr. DeAngelis criticized these unlawful actions, the district froze public discourse on the posts and temporarily blocked him from its page. These actions violated the First Amendment, which, as the Supreme Court recently recognized, prohibits government officials from blocking users and censoring comments based on their viewpoint.

After the Liberty Justice Center sent the district demand letters on August 14 and August 26, the district removed the illegal posts and unblocked Mr. DeAngelis. But despite numerous opportunities, the district declined to provide a written commitment to refrain from blocking and censoring Mr. DeAngelis and Pulaski County residents in the same way in the future. As a result, the Liberty Justice Center pursued legal action to hold the district accountable for its First Amendment violations.

“Public officials at all levels of government need to respect the First Amendment—and public school administrators are no exception,” said Dean McGee, Senior Attorney for Educational Freedom at the Liberty Justice Center. “The district’s attempts to censor online criticism of its illegal actions were a blatant violation of Corey’s rights and the rights of Pulaski County residents. We ask the court to ensure those violations are not repeated in the future.”

Under the terms of a federal consent decree entered on July 2, the Pulaski County School District has agreed to protect against viewpoint-based discrimination on its official social media platforms and to provide mandatory First Amendment and transparency training to its communications staff. The district has also agreed to pay attorneys’ fees incurred during the litigation.

“This is a win for every parent and citizen who wants to advocate freely on behalf of students,” said Corey DeAngelis. “I’m grateful to the Liberty Justice Center for defending my voice.”

“Government officials can’t censor people online just because they don’t like what they’re saying—and it was particularly disturbing to see a school district using taxpayer resources to shut down speech that was meant to advocate for kids,” said Dean McGee, Director of Educational Freedom at the Liberty Justice Center. “To their credit, the Pulaski County School District ultimately chose to resolve the case constructively, rather than doubling down and forcing taxpayers to foot the bill for a drawn-out legal fight.”

DeAngelis v. Pulaski County Board of Education was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky, London Division, on January 15, 2025. Covington-based attorney Steven J. Megerle served as local counsel for the submission to the court.