We beat MAGA extremists in Newberg!
In the aftermath of the 2020 election, local school boards became the new front in the far right’s culture wars. In rural and suburban districts around the country, extremists with national funding campaigned against mask mandates, LGBT rights, and “critical race theory.” In Newberg, Oregon, they took over the school board and banned Black Lives Matter and Pride symbols. Then, when local residents began organizing against them, they claimed they’d been “doxed” and sued four parents and teachers. We teamed up with the ACLU of Oregon and prominent local civil-rights lawyers to fight back. Today, we won: The Oregon Court of Appeals dismissed the directors’ claims.
Here's what happened. School-board director is a part-time position, and each director also had a day job. They each made that information public—in interviews with the press, in their campaign materials, and on their LinkedIn pages. So as part of organizing against them, our clients discussed the directors’ employers in the context of potential boycotts. The directors claimed that caused them “severe emotional distress.” The court explained that reasonable public officials wouldn’t feel severely distressed by that. And because the directors’ claim of distress was unreasonable, the court dismissed their case.
The result we achieved sets several important precedents. It confirms that organizing against elected officials is conduct “in furtherance of the constitutional right of free speech.” It provides that Oregon’s “anti-SLAPP” statute—which protects people from frivolous lawsuits designed to chill participation in public affairs—applies broadly when the speech at issue is connected to the public interest. And it holds, for the first time, that public officials can’t just claim they suffered “severe emotional distress” and collect damages from their constituents. Public officials choose to place themselves in the public eye, and they must accept “closer public scrutiny” as a result. They have no right to complain when their constituents organize to hold them accountable.
We’re incredibly proud of this result. And we couldn’t have achieved it without your support. We don’t charge our clients fees—we run on contributions from people like you. So if you’re able, please donate to help us fight for your civil rights.
