For Immediate Release: October 6, 2022
Contact: Ryan Hite, Communications Director
After Reporting a Mom to Her Law Enforcement Employer and the DOJ, Members of the Chippewa Valley School District in Michigan Are Slapped With First Amendment Lawsuit
Washington, D.C.: Sandra Hernden, a Detroit-area police detective, experienced what many parents did in the wake of authoritarian Covid-19 policies in public schools: plummeting grades and changing social behaviors from one of her sons. She spent months speaking out at Chippewa Valley School District meetings and questioned board members on the policies.
In return for her involved parenting, school board members reported her not only to her own employer but to the Department of Justice for “disrespect” and “over dramatic” comments about Covid school policies. This report to DOJ was sent just one day after AG Garland promised the National School Boards Association he would essentially treat concerned parents as domestic terrorists.
“In a world of school boards mistreating concerned parents, one Michigan board is about to get a taste of the First Amendment and the judicial system,” said Ed Martin, president of Phyllis Schlafly Eagles. “Detective Hernden has filed a First Amendment lawsuit against the school board and the members who harassed and mistreated her.
“This has the makings of a landmark moment for parents everywhere who have been shut out by the bureaucratic behemoth of school officials drunk with power. Herndon and her lawyers have made clear that this isn’t about money. It’s about being a parents who feel powerless in the face of tyrannical school boards. She is seeking damages in the maount of no more than $1.00.”
Martin concluded, “When elected officials in America behave so poorly as these many school boards have done, insulted that parents would even dare to question them, it’s time for some major changes. The Chippewa Valley board members are about to get checked and balanced in a major way, I hope, as this case proceeds. How dare they respond to a loving parent with such contempt and self-righteousness! We all hope and pray for swift action from the courts, and a legal comeuppance for this school board that sets a new standard from coast to coast.”
Read full details on Hernden’s case here.
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