Litigation Update: Mahmoud v. McKnight

In Fall 2022 the Montgomery County Board of Education (MCBOE) revised its literature/ language arts curriculum for Pre-K to eighth grade to include new books centered around LGBTQIA+ issues, including pride parades, gender transitioning, same-sex marriage, and pronoun preferences. Although this concerned some parents, initially parents were notified when the books were being read and could opt their children out of those lessons. However, in March 2023 the MCBOE issued a statement alerting parents that they would no longer be notified when these books were being taught and requests to opt-out would not be honored. In light of this new statement, a coalition of parents of elementary school children in Montgomery County from a variety of faiths, including Islam, Catholicism, and Orthodox Christianity, brought suit in the U.S. District Court for Maryland. They argued that the MCBOE's refusal to alert parents when potentially objectional books on sex education & related topics were being taught and to deny them the option to opt their children out of such education was violative of their free-speech, free-exercise, and substantive-due-process rights under the U.S. Constitution and under Maryland law. The parents sought a preliminary injunction against the MCBOE. The U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland heard oral argument on August 9, 2023. Soon after it ruled against the parents, who appealed to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals. Oral argument at the 4th Circuit is set to occur on December 5. Please join us for a Litigation Update on Mahmoud v. McKnight with Eric Baxter, who is VP & Senior Counsel at Becket and is representing the plaintiffs in this case, as he gives a breakdown of this important case concerning religious liberty, free speech, education policy, and parental rights. Featuring: Eric Baxter, Vice President & Senior Counsel, The Becket Fund For Religious Liberty (Moderator) Emilie Kao, Senior Counsel, Vice President of Advocacy Strategy, Alliance Defending Freedom