(Dec. 9, 2024): World News reports on the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision to rehear Henderson v. Springfield Public Schools, a case brought by Southeastern Legal Foundation (SLF) on behalf of two educators who were forced to participate in an employee anti-racism training. After an initial panel at the Eighth Circuit ruled that the educators lacked standing, SLF filed a petition urging the entire court to rehear the case. Following support for the petition to rehear the case from 14 states and 4 organizations, the court agreed.
The educators, Ms. Henderson and Ms. Lumley, were forced to participate in a training containing content to which they objected. For example, when Ms. Henderson expressed a view about the Black Lives Matter protests of 2020, a presenter told her she was “confused” and “wrong.” And when Ms. Lumley attempted to disagree with the statement that all white people are privileged, she was also told that she was wrong. Neither educator spoke again for fear of being removed from the training without credit.
SLF Executive Director Kimberly Hermann states in the article, “Unfortunately, schools across our country have required educators to endure countless hours of similar training that require them to affirm or attest to anti-American ideals such as racism and radical gender ideology. In some situations, schools segregate teachers by race in these very trainings. But standing up for our Constitution can be hard and scary.”
A decision to rehear a case like this is rare but promising. Oral argument is set for January 15.
Read the full article at WNG.org.
Follow along with latest case updates at SLFliberty.org.