Matt McNulty reports:
A Minnesota school board chairwoman has stirred outrage after she demanded that parents announce their home address if they want to speak at public meetings – the latest flashpoint in the ongoing battle over the right to question administrators about COVID restrictions, CRT curriculums or any other controversial topics.
Jodi Sapp, the chairwoman of the Mankato school board, opened the meeting on October 18 by telling parents they cannot ask any questions unless they revealed their home address, according to the now viral video.
‘Each speaker is asked to state his or her name and home address for the record. Failure to do so will result in an individual not being allowed to speak,’ Sapp read aloud.
Read more on DailyMail.
I raised this one on Twitter because I would have thought this precondition to speak would be a violation of the First Amendment, but I didn’t get any clear answer about that. Kristi Hastings, a public law attorney representing Minnesota schools, counties and cities responded to the news story with this comment:
I’ve seen this done many times at public meetings. I do think it’s intended to verify who lives in the community and who does not, but I’ve always asked it to be removed from the requirement simply for safely reasons. No way should a speaker have to give their home address!
— Kristi A. Hastings (@KristiHastings) October 29, 2021
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On follow-up, she indicated that her clients take her advice.
But what about districts that are not her clients? Or other states? This seems like it should be a straightforward question — while Congress cannot abridge a First Amendment right to petition the government for redress of grievances, can a local school board make providing your personal information a precondition for petitioning them or participating in a public meeting?
h/t, Joe Cadillic