A U.S. district court judge in Texas found that a father’s claims that school board members and police violated his rights after removing him and preventing him from returning to school board meetings are valid.
Jeremy Story was removed from a school board meeting after he voiced concerns that the school superintendent assaulted and threatened a former girlfriend.
“I was arrested and jailed for exposing the misdeeds of trustees and administrators,” Story told The Daily Signal.
“The school district’s attempts to dismiss our claims and sweep them under the ‘legal rug’ have failed,” Story noted. “What is at stake is the basic right to free speech without fear of government retaliation.”
Senior U.S. district judge in Hawaii who now serves for the Western District of Texas, San Antonio Division David Alan Ezra, rejected the defendants’ motions to dismiss Story’s claims.
Although Ezra did not find the defendants guilty of Story’s claims, he said the school officials violated the Texas Open Meeting Act and the 14th Amendment.
“We are pleased that the court agreed with many of our client’s claims on their face against the [school district], the five defendant school board members, the unlawfully appointed superintendent, and the offending [school district] police officers,” Story’s lawyer Stephen Casey said.
“The court also allowed us to re-plead the remainder of the causes of action, which we plan to do.”
Reporting from The Daily Signal:
In a Sept. 14, 2021, school board meeting, the district set up 18 chairs in a room that accommodated 300 people and prevented members of the public from entering. The school board passed a tax increase at that meeting. Police prevented Story from entering that school board meeting. According to Story, the school district police forcibly held him back and injured him. The Fourth Amendment violation of “unreasonable seizure” and the violation of the Texas Open Meetings Act trace back to this incident.
