A mother from Wisconsin, who is also a conservative activist, recently triumphed in a free speech lawsuit after facing defamation charges over social media comments about her school district’s perceived “woke” agenda.
Scarlett Johnson, head of the state’s Moms for Liberty chapter, was sued by Mary McCadden, a former English teacher and “social justice coordinator” for the Mequon-Thiensville School District, due to critical posts made by Johnson in October 2022.
In her posts, Johnson shared a screenshot of McCadden’s LinkedIn profile and questioned, “Why on earth am I paying for a ‘social justice coordinator’ for the school district?” She went further, stating, “This is exactly what @mtschools needs. White women with god complexes, please wake up more. Thank you, white saviors.”
Additionally, Johnson labeled DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) experts as “woke lunatics” and “bullies” attempting to silence parents.
McCadden initiated a defamation lawsuit in 2022. Although the circuit court allowed certain aspects of the case to move forward, Johnson, with support from the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty (WILL), appealed the ruling.
The argument from WILL posited that Johnson’s remarks amounted to “ordinary social media posts” safeguarded by First Amendment rights.
On Tuesday, the Wisconsin Court of Appeals ruled in Johnson’s favor, determining her statements couldn’t be deemed defamatory since they represented opinions rather than factual assertions that could be proven true or false.
The court acknowledged that words like “bully” and “lunatic” are inherently subjective, and that terms like “woke,” “white savior,” and “God complex” lack precise definitions.
There was dissent from one judge who noted that Johnson’s posts could imply undisclosed truths about McCadden because she was explicitly named.
Expressing her perspective, Johnson stated that she viewed the lawsuit as an attempt to silence her and others opposing DEI initiatives.
She recalled facing a similar defamation lawsuit shortly before the 2021 school board election, describing it as a politically motivated effort to intimidate her.
“I felt compelled to defend myself in this situation. It can’t be just another case. I needed to stand up because otherwise, it wouldn’t end,” she remarked. “They will keep targeting parents like me.”
She hopes this ruling will empower other parents to voice their concerns about “extreme ideology” in schools without the fear of legal repercussions.
“This establishes a legal precedent,” she expressed. “Parents everywhere should feel freer to share the truth about their schools without worrying about frivolous lawsuits.”
Luke Berg, a deputy prosecutor at WILL, commended the decision, stating, “Scarlett, like all of us, has the right to question and criticize the government. The defamation suit she faced was unfounded and should have been tossed out right away. We’re pleased the court saw it our way, and Scarlett can now move past this distraction.”
Efforts to reach McCadden’s attorney, James McAllister, for comments on the matter were unsuccessful.
