Three elected parent leaders are accusing radical New York City education officials of “weaponizing contempt” against those who refuse to embrace left-wing beliefs and speech norms. .
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Free Speech Institute submitted complaint Last week, in federal court on behalf of Deborah Alexander, Maud MaronNoah Harlan emphasized, “The First Amendment does not permit the New York City Department of Education to function as a conformity department.”
The lawsuit alleges that District 14 Regional Education Council President Taj Sutton and Vice President Marissa Manzanares brought their own political biases into public office and employed high-handed tactics that negatively impacted the plaintiffs’ freedom. ing. The left-wing duo’s campaign against their opponents is said to have been aided by New York Public Schools Chancellor David Banks and NYPS Equity Compliance Director Nina Mickens, who are also named as defendants.
sutton He is a radical leftist and identitarian who calls for defunding the police, advocates for COVID-19 vaccines and children wearing masks, and is on the steering committee for Black Lives Matter in New York state schools. is in charge of Manzanares is also a tourist, and similarly censorious and hostile to dissent. Both clearly turned CEC 14 into an instrument of their respective ideological agendas.
“Mr. Sutton and Mr. Manzanares have excluded people affiliated with unfavorable advocacy groups from the council’s public meetings, blocked critics from accessing the council’s social media pages, and injected broader political “It imposes a code of speech,” the complaint alleges. “And while the New York City Department of Education gives Mr. Sutton and Mr. Manzanares free rein to impose their views on others, local school boards and citywide council members who oppose official orthodoxy They are subject to investigation and removal.”
Alexander and Harlan were apparently expelled from the CEC 14 meeting “because of their political views.” Maron is refraining from attending the meeting because she is a co-founder of Parent Leaders for Accelerated Curriculum and Education in New York City and a member of Moms for Liberty, both of which are This is because they are the main targets of CEC 14’s exclusionary policies.
“Even if admitted, anything Plaintiff might say at a CEC 14 meeting would likely be prohibited by CEC 14’s speech provisions,” the complaint adds.
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report Last year, CEC 14, under the leadership of Sutton and Manzanares, promoted the Nov. 9 student strike and corresponding anti-Israel rally. Shouted out “Fuck the Jews!”
At a meeting about CEC 14’s protest movement, a concerned father asked a group of extremists that CEC 14 was affiliated with, including Palestinian youth. Manzanares reportedly told him: “If you don’t change direction, you will be removed.”
A Jewish father raised concerns about the safety of his children in light of Congress’s anti-Israel posts and accusations of “apartheid,” but apparently he too was met with silence and condemnation.
On the contrary, those who shouted anti-Semitism were allowed to speak their minds.
“After Wednesday night’s CEC D14 meeting, it became clear to me: The inmates are running the asylum,” said Lisa, a Brooklyn mother who removed her children from the 14th District.・Mr. Rhys said this.
Said post. “The unchecked and outrageous anti-Semitic abuse directed at members of the D14 community is nothing short of insane.”
CEC 14’s Instagram page is filled with identitarian, anti-Israel, and other left-wing content.
Weeks after Hamas terrorists massacred thousands of Israelis and dozens of Americans, the Sutton-led Council
said“We condemn settler colonialism, the militarized violence that facilitates the continued occupation of Palestinians, and we always condemn the killing of innocent people. “We condemn the actions of the United States government to escalate the current situation and reject statements made by various countries.”The leaders have described ongoing human rights violations in Gaza as “self-defense.” ”
The council also called for a ceasefire and “the liberation of the Palestinian people.”
The mothers’ lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, makes clear that Sutton and Manzanares are not alone in squeezing the rights of elected parent leaders. The New York City Department of Education, named as a defendant in this lawsuit, is also clearly responsible.
Regulation D-210“vague, broad, and perspective-discriminating speech codes.”
The D-210 has clearly been used to great effect by DOE ideologues.
For example, Maron faces multiple D-210 investigations over private statements that contradict the favorable views of those in power. Maron’s disturbing speech denounced Hamas propaganda, her suggestion that “anti-racist people are very racist,” and her suggestion that children undergo gender reassignment procedures such as mutilation. It appears that he was concerned about being exposed.
Banks claims her position was threatened when some of the messages under investigation were brought to her attention.
The complaint alleges that the regulations used to control speech by Maron and others are “unconstitutional and ambiguous. Defendants cannot determine what kind of speech constitutes ‘frequent abusive language’ or needlessly offensive speech. No reasonably intelligent person can fathom that.”
“Rule D-210’s prohibition on ‘contempt’ is also unconstitutionally vague, as is the prohibition on ‘derogatory’ or ‘offensive’ speech. These are all subjective values,” the lawsuit continues. .
Enforcement of this regulation is said to be “disenfranchising.”[s] Plaintiff of free speech and due process rights in violation of the First and Fourteenth Amendments. ”
The mothers are not seeking pay as a result of the lawsuit. Rather, they only want nominal damages of $17.91 each. Their ultimate goal is to neutralize D-210 and end the discriminatory practices familiar to District 14.
“The First Amendment guarantees the right to criticize public officials and speak freely on matters of public concern. Yet CEC 14 leaders used school resources to “They promote their extreme political views while banning critics from public meetings and blocking them on social media,” said Alan Gras, deputy director of litigation at the Free Speech Institute. Ta.
“Meanwhile, DOE Regulation D-210 subjects elected parent leaders to inquisition and threats of removal for ‘erroneous beliefs,'” Gula continued. “We are asking the court to stop these unconstitutional actions and protect the free speech rights of all New Yorkers.”
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shown CEC 14 has not yet responded to a request for comment.
“We are not your props” May Day Rally in Harlem, Parents, CEC 14 President Taj Sutton Speaks!youtube.be
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