SW News: Parental rights are coming under attack in the American state of California as the legislature is considering a bill that seeks to criminalize what it calls “substantial disorder” at school board meetings. SB 596 passed by the State Senate looks at expanding the law that prevents anyone from subjecting “a school employee to harassment”.

Those championing the rights of parents say that the bill is an attempt to “chill parents from speaking out”. The legislation will now be taken to the floor of the California State Assembly and it will broaden the definition of “a school employee” to include any official or staff of a school district, charter school, and country or state education board.

Critics argue that the bill does not clearly define “substantial disorder” and the so-called definition of harassment has more space for interpretations. If it is enacted, then violators can be fined between 500 and 1000 USD, given a jail sentence of one year or both. Repeating the offense invites a mandatory jail term and a possible fine along with it.

According to Sarah Parshall Perry, a senior legal fellow in The Heritage Foundation’s Edwin Meese III Center for Legal and Judicial Studie, said she found it curious that there was no definition of “substantial” or “disruption” within the text of the legislation. “Considering that these are essential terms for the bill, it’s likely that if passed, the law would fall under a vagueness challenge,” she said.
Perry stressed that parents do have a right to freedom of expression protected by the First Amendment. “Ordinary limitations on certain speech—making a true threat of violence, for example—already apply within the context of the First Amendment, making the criminal penalty here unnecessary, legally suspect, and ideologically driven,” she added.

In 2022, Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom signed a bill that turned the state into a haven for gender-affirming care. SB 107 came into effect in January and it awarded courts the power to decide the custody of a child if someone removes that child from his or her parents in another state to obtain such “care” over the parents’ disagreement.