October 27, 2021
Carr Joins Multistate Coalition to Hold Biden Accountable for Collusion to Strip Parents’ First Amendment Rights
ATLANTA, GA – Attorney General Chris Carr has joined a multistate coalition to take further action to hold the Biden administration accountable for colluding with the National School Boards Association (NSBA) to threaten the First Amendment rights of parents. This action follows the successful efforts made by a 17-state coalition in winning an apology from the NSBA.
“This directive is intrusive and has been put forth without cause or justification, as evidenced by the apology issued by the NSBA,” said Carr. "This attempt by the Biden-Harris administration to chill the free speech of those who would express disagreement regarding government policies, including matters as serious as our children’s education, is incredibly alarming and in direct contrast to our First Amendment. We will continue to fight against this type of unwarranted federal action to protect the rights of Georgia's families."
On Oct. 26, the multistate coalition sent letters to both the Biden administration and the NSBA demanding a series of actions. Fourteen state attorneys general joined the letter to the Biden administration, and 12 joined the letter to the NSBA. The coalition is led by Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita.
The state attorneys general called for the Biden administration to revoke its threats to deploy the FBI nationwide to monitor parents’ interactions with local school officials. The letter also instructed both the Biden administration and the NSBA to release documents revealing communication with one another in the lead-up to threats against parents in an Oct. 4 memo from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).
The NSBA has admitted to using language against parents in communication to the Biden administration for which there was “no justification.”
On Oct. 18, the initial 17-state coalition sent a letter to President Joe Biden and U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland. The letter demanded that the Biden administration cease making threats against parents such as those contained in the Oct. 4 DOJ memo, which called for the FBI and other law enforcement to keep a close eye on parents nationwide to address supposed “threats against school administrators, board members, teachers, and staff.”
The DOJ memo echoed an NSBA letter sent Sept. 29 to the Biden administration lamenting the rise of parents pushing back against divisive ideologies, including critical race theory. The NSBA letter raised the specter of local protests rising to the level of "domestic terrorism.”
Now, facts have arisen showing the NSBA and White House worked together to create the NSBA’s fallacious letter to Biden administration officials in the first place.
The most recent letter sent to President Biden and U.S. Attorney General Garland states: “Attorney General Garland’s reliance on the NSBA letter is troubling enough, but potential collusion between the White House, the DOJ, and the NSBA in the actual creation of the September 29 letter — as a pretext for threats against parents — raises serious concerns. Officials with the awesome power to initiate criminal actions using the USA PATRIOT ACT abuse citizens when they solicit, as an excuse for mobilizing federal law enforcement, complaints against ordinary Americans who merely disagree with local school officials.”
The letter to the DOJ and the letter to the NSBA are attached below.
