On September 6, District Judge Anthony J. Trenga of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia will hear oral arguments on the Liberty Justice Center’s motion for summary judgment in Menders v. Loudoun County School Board, a case challenging the Loudon County School District’s “Bias Incident Reporting System” on behalf of parents and students. After the district court originally dismissed the case, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ruled that the plaintiffs’ First Amendment challenges to the scheme could proceed.
In the plaintiffs’ motion for summary judgment, the Liberty Justice Center asks the Court to find that Loudoun County School Board’s “Bias Incident Reporting System” policies violate the First Amendment by chilling students’ speech.
WHO: Emily Rae, Senior Counsel at the Liberty Justice Center
WHEN: Wednesday, September 6th, 2023 at 10:00 AM EST
WHERE: Courtroom 701, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia
ISSUE BACKGROUND:
Loudoun County Public Schools introduced a “Bias Incident Reporting System” into its schools in June 2020. This system encourages students to police their peers’ speech, reporting allegedly offensive statements to a “Supervisor of Equity.” Parents of students at the school sued, stating that the policy chills students’ speech and violates their First Amendment rights.
Menders v. Loudoun County School Board was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia on June 2, 2021.
The Liberty Justice Center’s filings and other documents from the case are available here.