UPDATE: Capistrano School Board Trustee resigns effective IMMEDIATELY due to threatened litigation
My observations during the meeting regarding pro-mask agitators, who were brought in for a dog-and-pony show
The following substack is an update to a prior one, adding additional information and context.
Trustee Pamela Braunstein announced her resignation from the Capistrano Unified School District Board of Trustees, effective March 3, 2022, citing “her disagreement with anti-mask sentiments from other trustees,” as per the San Clemente Times. Braunstein’s resignation came one day after she voted “no” on a resolution from Trustee Lisa Davis—who represents San Clemente—calling for masks to be optional for students ahead of the state lifting the student mask mandate after March 11. The resolution failed following the board’s in a 4-3 vote.
Regarding her resignation, Braunstein stated:
“Some of my fellow CUSD Trustees have been proposing policies that aren’t compliant with the law, which, if they were to succeed, (would) not only hurt the district but put me in an untenable position ethically and professionally as an attorney,” Braunstein announced in a statement. She continued, “[t]his, along with the never-ending, organized harassment by a certain vocal minority led me to the unfortunate conclusion that I had to resign for the safety of myself and my family.”
Parents and students advocating for medical freedom have frequently shown up to demonstrate against pandemic-era requirements during CUSD board meetings. Nearly one–hundred parents and children showed up to last Wednesday’s meeting advocating for mask choice. Droves of children, many as young as six-years-old (kids who have never experienced education free of masks), and their parents gave heartfelt (often tearful) statements practically begging the Trustees to lift these archaic and abjectly useless COVID-19 mandates. Four of these board members didn’t care for their pleas.
Indeed, Braunstein—a courtroom litigator since 1996 (nearly as long as I have been alive)—didn’t even have the decency to attend the meeting in–person. This career litigator (often called a “shark” or “hired gun” in the legal profession due to the confrontational nature of their work) now claims that she is a victim. This adult woman, citing “harassment” and threats to the “safety” to her family now attempts to paint her critics (innocent children, concerned mothers and fathers, and their legal representatives) as “organized harassers.”
Ms. Braunstein’s attempt at self-victimization is absurd—especially coming from someone with nearly three decades as a professional courtroom advocate.
NOTE: The Gavel Project strongly disagrees with Braunstein’s mischaracterization of our peaceful civil disobedience, an American hallmark. Our organization poses no physical threat to anyone. We condemn all forms of political violence. Any “threat” we may pose is limited to civil (peaceful) disobedience and litigation. We’d also like to take a moment to thank Trustee Lisa Davis for being such a staunch advocate for Mask Choice. Lisa made every possible concession to pass her resolution for medical freedom. She bears no fault for the actions of her unreasonable colleagues.
Earlier, I spoke at the Capistrano School Board meeting. Various CUSD Board Members have been derelict in protecting the health and safety of the children in their district. I hope they are each ready to face a jury of their peers, in the biggest lawsuit in American history. Throughout public comment, the Trustees were repeatedly asked by speakers to seek a second legal opinion regarding the legality of mask mandates. Rather than simply making a phone call, the board (including Ms. Braunstein who is herself an attorney) chose to follow the illegal advice of their counsel. Because of this 4–3 vote, the district continues to abuse children with its mask mandate. Those that voted against the mask choice resolution (meaning, they refused to be reasonable) will now be named, personally, for their civil rights abuses.
Prior to the meeting, I stood outside of the district building with a microphone for nearly a half hour explaining this to Board Members. I know they heard us. They have no excuses for what is coming.
The attorney for this district (Justin R. Shinnefield, and likely other members of his firm, Atkinson, Andelson, Loya, & Romo) will ultimately be sued for malpractice.
What happened last night will go down as one of the saddest public justification sessions for child abuse in history.
To the Board Members: I hope you are all prepared for discovery. I, personally, cannot wait to examine your financial records and find out what is motivating you.
This is the same district where The Gavel Project plaintiff, Troy, has been engaged in peaceful civil disobedience for weeks, by refusing to wear a mask. I wrote about this in a prior Substack.
An organized group of outside pro-mask agitators was present at the meeting. Throughout the meeting, I observed a small group of people appearing strangely vocal in support of CUSD’s mask mandate. This group cheered throughout the meeting whenever the pro–child–abuse position was taken.
I watched the conclusion of the meeting from outside of the Board Room, from behind the crowd of people peering in through windows, where I could see the entire room’s reaction to the Board’s vote on the resolution.
At the conclusion of the meeting, when the vote was announced, most of the room erupted in disgust. Not all, however, had such a visceral reaction. While most of those present vocalized their disappointment, the same group of people cheering for masks throughout the night got up from their seats and immediately left. They loaded into vans and other large vehicles and began leaving the parking lot as a caravan.
As this caravan of organized pro-mask agitators left the parking lot, they blasted their horns in celebration.
In the most beautiful way, however, the nature of the horn blasting quickly shifted. As the caravan of agitators fled the scene, the pro–choice crowd filed out of the building and loaded into their own vehicles. They, too, began blasting their horns. What began as a gross celebration by anti–liberty agitators quickly shifted into a beautiful display of protest.
The horn-blasting lasted nearly an hour.