Legal Update: Irvine Unified School District presented with ultimatum by The Gavel Project
A complaint is imminent, unless the school board publicly abandons its policy
Friday, January 14, 2022, Irvine, California Parent Tiffany Craft escorted her minor child to her class at a school in the Irvine Unified School District (IUSD). Tiffany’s child was unmasked to peacefully protest the school’s COVID-19 mandates.
The teacher of Tiffany’s child was provided a slightly shorter version of the Ultimatum. The school’s Principal and the Administrators at IUSD were provided with the full ultimatum (see below). In short, the Ultimatum demands that the school faculty immediately abandon enforcement of their institution’s COVID-19 mandates or face personal lawsuits for civil rights violations.
Tiffany’s minor child was ultimately barred from entering the classroom because of the refusal to mask. This is so despite Tiffany pointing out that masking has had a detrimental impact on her child’s health and development and that her child, in fact, tested positive for COVID-19 just a few weeks prior (making the student no danger to others).
Tiffany, like many parents in California, has repeatedly explained:
“I am not saying no masks. I am not advocating for a ban on masking generally. I am advocating for every educator, family, and student to have the freedom to choose whether or not to mask in the school setting and for that choice to be respected and honored.”
The Ultimatum has one objective: to notify those running IUSD and others with similar policies of their personal liability for their civil rights violations. A complaint is imminent, unless the school district publicly abandons its policy before the end of the next school board meeting, which is this coming Tuesday.
Thank you, to all that support The Gavel Project! We look forward to updating you again soon!
Best Regards,
Ryan
P.S. As an aside, The Gavel Project is excited to announce that we’re in discussions with The Lex Rex Institute about working together on such matters!
Full Ultimatum
ULTIMATUM RE: YOUR SCHOOL’S COVID-19 POLICIES
Attention Teachers, School Administrators, and Board Members:
Regarding my child’s lack of a facemask today, be advised—in the same vein the American Hero, Rosa Parks—we are peacefully engaged in an act of civil disobedience by exercising our inalienable right to refuse to comply with your institution’s unconstitutional COVID-19 policies (this refusal encompasses to masking, testing, and vaccination policies). This refusal is an act of free speech (expressive conduct) secured by the First Amendment of the United States Constitution.
Henceforth, my child will no longer comply with any COVID-19 mandates emanating from this public institution or its governing body (i.e., the School Board, the Department of Education, and the State of California). To be clear, my child will comply with any instructions you give regarding disciplinary actions relative to this act of civil disobedience. However, my child will no longer comply with any government mandates regarding COVID-19.
Stated simply, you will neither mask, test, nor inject my progeny with any substance absent my express consent.
This is an ultimatum: abandon your COVID-19 policies—immediately—or take disciplinary action against my child and face litigation. Our Lawyers are prepared to sue you, personally, should you desire the latter option. To be clear, any party that is involved in either promulgating or enforcing these discriminatory policies can be named, personally, in litigation, and our Lawyers will seek damages to the fullest extent permissible by law.
Be advised, should you (as an individual acting as an agent of the State of California) take discriminatory action for this refusal to comply with your COVID-19 policies, you—and all involved in the adoption or enforcement of such policies—will be named as defendants and subject to personal liability for violating my civil rights pursuant to Title 42 U.S.C. § 1983.
I urge you to consider your options carefully. It does not matter that you are merely “following orders.” As we observed in Nuremburg many years ago, such is not an excuse for violating basic human rights.
I’ll conclude with a hypothetical: Is it worth your home, car, or pension?
Sincerely,
______________________________________________
Sign/Date
_______________________________________________
Go, Ryan, Go!