The Liberty Justice Center (LJC) has issued a demand letter to the Konocti Unified School District (KUSD) in Clearlake, California, alleging the district violated the First Amendment rights of critics by blocking them on social media after they questioned a teacher’s reported conduct.
The action follows KUSD’s decision on October 21st to block Corey DeAngelis, an LJC Board Member, and Beth Bourne, Chair of the local Moms for Liberty chapter, from the district’s official Facebook pages. The district also reportedly disabled comments and deleted Mr. DeAngelis’ initial post.
The Incident in Question
The controversy stems from an incident on Saturday, October 18th, during “No Kings” protests in Clearlake. A video purportedly showed a KUSD middle school teacher celebrating the death of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk.
When members of the public, including Mr. DeAngelis and Ms. Bourne, used the district’s social media pages to request a response to the alleged conduct, KUSD officials are said to have responded by blocking the individuals, disabling comments, and removing Mr. DeAngelis’s commentary.
The LJC asserts that official social media pages for government entities, including public school districts, are prohibited from engaging in viewpoint discrimination or suppressing speech based on the speaker’s perspective, citing the First Amendment. Public officials, they argue, cannot block critics simply because they dislike the message.
READ: Johnson Slams ‘No Kings’ Protests: Soros-Funded, Co-Sponsored By Communist Party USA
Pattern of Enforcement
This is not the first time the LJC has stepped in on behalf of Mr. DeAngelis over alleged social media censorship by school districts:
- Federal Consent Decree: Earlier this year, the LJC secured a federal consent decree in DeAngelis v. Pulaski County Board of Education. That district was ordered to stop using social media to suppress criticism, cease viewpoint-based restrictions, and commit to First Amendment educational training for its communications staff after blocking Mr. DeAngelis over his criticism of their lobbying efforts.
- San Jacinto Settlement: In September, the LJC sent a demand letter to the San Jacinto Unified School District after Mr. DeAngelis was blocked from their X (formerly Twitter) account for raising concerns about a teacher publicly celebrating Charlie Kirk’s assassination. San Jacinto USD voluntarily agreed to the same commitments established in the Pulaski County case, avoiding litigation.
Legal Action Looms
The demand letter sent to Konocti Unified School District outlines the same requirements: the district must immediately unblock both Mr. DeAngelis and Ms. Bourne, and commit to the First Amendment protections established in the previous cases.
The Liberty Justice Center has stated it is prepared to pursue all appropriate legal remedies if the district fails to comply, underscoring its ongoing commitment to holding school districts accountable to free speech rights.
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