Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr is part of a national group of attorneys general calling the federal government’s crackdown on harassment of school officials an unlawful infringement of parental free speech.
The move comes as the federal government tries to crack down on harassment and violence against school officials, mostly from parents reacting to the implementation of such controversial ideologies such as Critical Race Theory. CRT is an academic concept that teaches children about American history through the lens of race relations.
U.S. Attorney Merrick Garland ordered the FBI and other federal law enforcement agencies to meet with local agencies in the next month to draft a plan for dealing with a recent rise in intimidation of school administrators, board members, teachers and staff. Garland directed the agencies to monitor activities at school districts nationwide to curb unruly behavior.
The group of conservative attorneys general said the government has offered no “convincing” evidence of increased threats. It called the administration’s actions “unnecessary” and based on “a flawed premise.” The group’s letter said the federal measures amount to intimidation and violate the First Amendment rights of parents to address school officials about their children’s education.
“Your recent action seeks to chill lawful dissent by parents voiced during local school board meetings by characterizing them as unlawful and threatening,” the attorneys general said in their Oct. 18 nine-page letter to President Biden and Garland.
The attorneys general expressed concern that a Sept. 29 National School Board Association letter sent to the Biden administration discussed the rise of parents objecting to controversial ideologies such as CRT.
The letter, the group said, “raises the specter of local protests rising to the level of domestic terrorism.”
Read the attorneys general’s letter here.
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