Independent Women’s Law Center (IWLC) and a coalition of 38 other amici have filed an amicus brief in the case of Christin Heaps v. Delaware Valley Regional High School Board of Education. The brief supports a parent’s right to raise their child according to their values.
The case involves New Jersey school officials who facilitated the social transition of the plaintiff’s daughter by referring to her with a male name and pronouns without notifying or obtaining consent from the parents. The parents argue that this policy violates the 14th Amendment and their rights to direct their child’s upbringing. A district court in New Jersey sided with the School Board, leading the parents to appeal to the Third Circuit. The appeal focuses on whether parental rights are violated by such school board policies and if important decisions concerning a child require parental consent.
Beth Parlato, senior legal advisor for IWLC, stated, “This case is not about politics—it’s about the fundamental rights of parents to direct the upbringing and care of their children. When a school district deliberately withholds critical information about a child’s identity or well-being, it undermines the trust essential to education and violates the constitutional rights of families. Parents don’t cease to be parents when their child walks into a classroom.”
In another similar case, IWLC and 54 other amici filed an amicus brief last month in Vitsaxakin v. Skaneateles Central School District at the Second Circuit. This case also deals with parental rights after New York school officials facilitated a secret social transition for a seventh-grade student.
Schools must be held accountable for violating parents’ fundamental rights recognized by the constitution regarding their children’s upbringing.
Heaps brief can be found here.
Vitsaxakin brief can be found here.
