Emily Rae
Emily Rae is a Senior Counsel at the Liberty Justice Center, where she litigates cases to protect individual liberties, prevent government overreach, and preserve other constitutional rights.
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On July 16, the Liberty Justice Center filed a lawsuit challenging California Assembly Bill 1955 (AB 1955), newly-enacted legislation that would prohibit schools from adopting parental notification policies.
On May 22, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond joined the California Legislative LGBTQ Caucus to propose AB 1955, legislation prohibiting parental notification policies across California. AB 1955 aims to prohibit schools from adopting parental notification policies that require school administrators to inform parents if their children ask to be referred to by a name or pronouns that differ from their gender at birth or to access sex-segregated school programs or bathrooms for the opposite gender. AB 1955 would also overturn existing parental notification policies and strengthen policies that require school employees to keep secrets from parents.
On July 15, Governor Gavin Newsom signed the bill into law. Unless the Court intervenes, AB 1955 will go into effect on January 1, 2025.
On July 16, the Liberty Justice Center filed a lawsuit to challenge the legislation and defend Californian parents’ rights. The Liberty Justice Center’s lawsuit—filed on behalf of the Chino Valley Unified School District and several Californian parents with children in the state’s public school system—asks the Court to bar California from implementing AB 1955 because the legislation violates the First and Fourteenth Amendments as well as the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).
“PK-12 minor students, most of whom are too young to drive, vote, or provide medical consent for themselves, are also too young to make life-altering decisions about their expressed gender identity without their parents’ knowledge. But that is precisely what AB 1955 enables—with potentially devastating consequences for children too young to fully comprehend them,” said Emily Rae, Senior Counsel at the Liberty Justice Center.
“School officials do not have the right to keep secrets from parents, but parents do have a constitutional right to know what their minor children are doing at school. Parents are the legal guardians of their children, not Governor Newsom, Attorney General Bonta, or Superintendent Thurmond. We will continue to defend parents’ rights and children’s well-being by challenging invasive laws like AB 1955 in court, at no cost to taxpayers,” continued Rae.
Chino Valley Unified School District v. Newsom was filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California on July 16, 2024.
The government shouldn’t be forcing schools to keep secrets from parents. We are representing the Chino Valley Unified School District and parents free of charge, but we cannot do it alone. Help us defend parents’ rights and children’s well-being in court.
Emily Rae is a Senior Counsel at the Liberty Justice Center, where she litigates cases to protect individual liberties, prevent government overreach, and preserve other constitutional rights.
Noelle Daniel is a staff attorney at Liberty Justice Center where she assists in cases to protect the rights to free speech, economic liberty, private property, and other Constitutional rights in courts across the country.
(Tampa Free Press)—The United States District Court for the Eastern District of California will hear oral arguments today in Chino Valley Unified School District v. Newsom, a pivotal case challenging legislation that bans parental notification policies in schools statewide. Liberty Justice Center Senior Counsel Emily Rae will present arguments opposing...
(Orange County Lawyers)—The Orange County Board of Education has joined a lawsuit against the state of California that challenges AB 1955, known as the Support Academic Futures and Educators for Today’s Youth (SAFETY) Act. Under the new law, policies that previously required school officials to inform parents about their child’s...
(Chino Valley Champion)—The Orange County Board of Education and the Anderson Union High School District in Northern California, south of Redding, have voted to join the Chino Valley Unified School District in its lawsuit challenging AB 1955, which is legislation that would ban schools from informing parents when their child...
(Southern California Record)—The Orange County Board of Education and a far northern California school district have joined their names to a lawsuit challenging a new California state law that challengers say can be used by public schools and teachers to block parents from knowing if their children are transitioning gender....
(The Center Square)—The Orange County Board of Education, representing the third most-populated county in California, and Anderson Union High School District voted to join a lawsuit against AB 1955, a law that bans K-12 schools from notifying parents of students’ gender change requests. The lawsuit, filed by Liberty Justice Center...
(Fox 11 Los Angeles)—A Southern California school district filed a lawsuit Tuesday against Gov. Gavin Newsom and the state challenging Assembly Bill 1955 which prohibits schools from notifying parents of their child’s gender identification change. The law bans school rules requiring teachers and other staff to disclose a student’s gender...
(Northern California Record)—The raging legal dispute over whether public school teachers can block parents from knowing if their children have adopted a transgender identity at school continues to intensify, as a San Bernardino County school district has joined with parents and public interest legal organization to challenge a new California...
(The Center Square)—California parents and a school district filed a joint federal lawsuit against the state over its new ban on public schools notifying parents of students’ gender change requests. Soon before the lawsuit was filed, entrepreneur Elon Musk announced he is moving the headquarters of X, formerly known as...
(KTLA)—The Liberty Justice Center, a national litigation firm, has filed a lawsuit against Gov. Gavin Newsom on Tuesday, challenging a new law that prohibits California school districts from notifying parents of a child’s gender identification change. The filing was announced on X, formerly known as Twitter. The lawsuit names Newsom,...
(CBS News)—A school district in Southern California is suing Gov. Gavin Newsom over the new state law that will prohibit public schools from being required to notify parents when their children change gender identities. The lawsuit filed Tuesday by the Chino Valley Unified School District alleges that Assembly Bill 1955...