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Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita has joined 12 other states in filing an amicus brief supporting a Noblesville teenager who started an anti-abortion club and argued the states have an interest in protecting student speech.
The case originated in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana and is now before the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals.
The district court ruled the Hamilton County School District did not violate E.D.’s rights when they enforced the school’s rules for student clubs.
E.D.’s freshman year at Noblesville High School, she started a club called Noblesville Students for Life which was part of the national chapter Students for Life.
The club was initially approved and even had a table at the school’s activity fair at the beginning of the school year.
But when it came to the flyers for the call-out meeting, E.D. was struggling to get them approved by school administrators.
Dean of Students at NHS Jeremy Luna met with E.D. and her mother Lisa Duell where he stated he told them the flyers could not include a political photo of a “picket” with multiple signs reading “Defund Planned Parenthood.”
He said E.D. should be able to hang the flyers if she removed that but he was not the school administrator who approved student clubs and flyers.
Following the meeting, Luna spoke with NHS Principal Craig McCaffrey about his concerns with the meeting and how E.D.’s mother was “driving the conversation.”
NHS Assistant Principal Janae Mobley said E.D. had shown her the same flyers which she declined and advised her what to fix.
McCaffrey stated in an email to Duell that clubs are completely student-driven and cannot have any involvement from adults.
Due to his lack of confidence that the club was student-driven, he removed the club’s approval to meet in the school.
He also informed Duell that the school was changing its club approval process and wasn’t accepting any new requests until the next semester.
E.D. resubmitted her application the next semester and NSFL was reinstated.
“The States have an interest in ensuring that their students’ speech—particularly political or religious speech in student-led organizations—is not silenced simply because a teacher or administrator disagrees with the speech,” the state’s amicus brief stated. “The States have an interest in ensuring that Hazelwood does not become a license to censor political or religious speech because of their students’ point of view.”
The amicus brief states that the court should rule in favor of E.D. and reverse the district court’s judgment.
The attorney for Noblesville School District did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“After an incident at Noblesville schools, our office has partnered with 12 other states on an amicus brief to protect students’ First Amendment rights, especially when it relates to religious beliefs. School administrators shouldn’t be able to censor speech simply because they don’t like it or it’s not popular,” Rokita posted on X.
The case is E.D., a minor by and through her parents and next friends Michael Duell and Lisa Duell; Noblesville Students for Life v. Noblesville School District, et al., 24-1608.
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