Timothy R. Snowball
Tim Snowball serves as Senior Counsel at Liberty Justice Center, where he fights to keep government power in check while protecting the individual constitutional rights of Americans.
The Liberty Justice Center is calling on Missouri’s Kearney School District to protect parents’ First Amendment rights after the District deleted a parent’s comments and blocked her from its official Facebook page because of her criticism.
Through its PARENTS Initiative—the Liberty Justice Center’s first line of protection for parental rights—LJC represents Annie Palmer, the parent of a currently enrolled Kearney School District student and a former District educator who worked there for 20 years.
On April 16, 2026, Palmer used a “thumbs down” reaction and posted comments in response to a District Facebook post announcing the hiring of a new school principal. The District deleted her comments and blocked her access to its page without notice, explanation or reference to a policy governing restrictions on public access.
According to public records obtained by Palmer, the restriction was imposed because the newly hired principal was personally “upset” about her thumbs-down reaction.
But government officials cannot violate First Amendment rights and restrict access to official social media accounts simply because they disagree with someone’s viewpoint. A thumbs-down reaction expresses an opinion. A school employee’s personal offense at that opinion does not justify censoring a parent on a government-operated social media page.
The letter also raises concerns about the District’s lack of a written policy protecting the public’s First Amendment rights on its social media accounts. Without clear safeguards, other parents and community members could face similar restrictions for expressing views District employees dislike.
To resolve the matter, the Liberty Justice Center is demanding that the District:
The letter warns that failure to address these issues could result in a federal civil rights lawsuit.
This letter is part of a continued effort to defend parental rights through the Liberty Justice Center’s PARENTS Initiative. The Liberty Justice Center sent demand letters to the attorneys general of five states which currently have school districts that are violating federal law by hiding students’ gender transitioning from their parents, and, in ongoing litigation, LJC represents a Portland mother who was trespassed off her son’s public school campus for speaking out against gender-related school policies.
LJC will continue to stand with parents, like Annie Palmer, in their fight to maintain their protected rights to raise their children without unconstitutional government intervention.
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Tim Snowball serves as Senior Counsel at Liberty Justice Center, where he fights to keep government power in check while protecting the individual constitutional rights of Americans.