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Friday, June 27, 2025
End All Opt-Outs
Mahmoud v. Taylor holds that parents were entitled to an injunction requiring school to notify them of the use of certain TGBTQ+ content in the classroom and offer their kids an opt-out. The content burdens parents rights to control their children's religious beliefs and does not survive strict scrutiny because the school offers other opt-outs (religious and otherwise).
On one hand, this is Alito driving the anti-LGTBQ+ "ad hoc nullification machine." On the other, what happens if a school eliminates all opt-outs? At least part of why the school policies fail strict scrutiny is that other opt-outs show their feasibility. So could a school say "this is the educational content we believe is appropriate and we are going with it for all students, no opt-outs for any reasons and if you don't like it find another place for your education" (a decision the conservative justices--especially Alito and Thomas--insist deserve deference)? Or does free exercise now give religious believers a right to participate in public functions and to dictate that the content conform to their personal religious beliefs?
Posted by Howard Wasserman on June 27, 2025 at 11:43 AM in Constitutional thoughts, First Amendment, Howard Wasserman | Permalink
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