CV NEWS FEED // A pair of teachers have sued California Gov. Gavin Newsom and California Attorney General Rob Bonta, both Democrats, over pro-“trans” policies that the teachers say compel them to lie to parents.
Plaintiffs Elizabeth Mirabelli and Lori Ann West are middle-school teachers in Escondido, CA. Per The Daily Signal, Mirabelli and West “sued the Escondido Union School District in April [2023], alleging violations of their First Amendment rights.”
In the suit, the teachers “allege that the school district’s ‘Parental Exclusion Policy’ prevents teachers from disclosing ‘the fact that a student identifies as a new gender, or wants to be addressed by a new name or new pronouns during the school day,’” the Signal reported.
In January, the plaintiffs added Newsom and Bonta as defendants in the case.
The teachers’ lawyer, Paul Jonna, explained the decision. He called Newsom “the boss” who “has ultimate responsibility for setting education policy for those under his supervision.”
“Rincon Middle School and the Escondido Union School District do not operate in a vacuum,” Jonna noted. “The California Constitution provides that education is ultimately a matter of state responsibility.”
>> DESANTIS TO NEWSOM: CALIFORNIA REPRESENTS THE ‘BIDEN-HARRIS AGENDA ON STEROIDS’ <<
Again from the Signal:
In August 2022, the teachers received an email with a list of students, including their preferred names and pronouns. The list included directions on whether teachers could disclose the names and pronouns to the students’ parents or guardians. Mirabelli reportedly received an email with a list of students like this: “[student name]: Preferred name is [redacted] (pronouns are he/him). Dad and stepmom are NOT aware, please use [redacted] and she/her when calling home.”
“Mirabelli and West claim the policy violates their First Amendment rights to free speech and free exercise of religion,” the Signal’s report explained.
Back in September 2023, the Signal’s Tyler O’Neil indicated that U.S. District Court Judge Roger Benitez “granted a preliminary injunction preventing Escondido Union School District from punishing [Mirabelli and West] if they notified parents about a child’s claimed transgender identity.”
In his ruling, the federal judge called Escondido’s policy “a trifecta of harm.”
“[I]t harms the child who needs parental guidance and possibly mental health intervention to determine if the incongruence is organic or whether it is the result of bullying, peer pressure, or a fleeting impulse,” Benitez wrote at the time:
It harms the parents by depriving them of the long recognized Fourteenth Amendment right to care, guide, and make health care decisions for their children. And finally, it harms plaintiffs who are compelled to violate the parent’s rights by forcing plaintiffs to conceal information they feel is critical for the welfare of their students – violating plaintiffs’ religious beliefs.
>> CALIFORNIA AG MAY HAVE VIOLATED COURT ORDER TO PUNISH PRO-PARENT SCHOOLS <<
Also in September, Jonna called out Bonta for directing California school districts to adopt such policies. He suggested that in doing this, the Democrat may have violated Benitez’s ruling.
“[Bonta] is basically ignoring what the federal judge said and choosing to advise state officials to continue to enforce these policies that a federal judge has said are likely unconstitutional,” Jonna said at the time:
[Bonta is] telling school officials to continue enforcing these policies that a federal judge has told us likely violate the U.S. Constitution. That risks subjecting the state and school districts to massive liability in the form of attorneys fees.
Jonna is a special counsel for the Thomas More Society, a Catholic pro-religious freedom law firm.
The Catholic business organization Legatus recently named Jonna its 2023 National Ambassador of the Year. Legatus cited Jonna’s “outstanding Christian witness professionally and to the broader society” as well as “his tremendous work as a key attorney defending and winning many high-profile religious liberty cases nationwide.”
