Parker v. Hurley
| Decision Date | 23 February 2007 |
| Docket Number | C.A. No. 06-10751-MLW. |
| Citation | 474 F.Supp.2d 261 |
| Parties | David PARKER, et al., Plaintiffs, v. William HURLEY, et al., Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Massachusetts |
Jeffrey A. Denner, Denner Pellegrino LLP, Robert S. Sinsheimer, Denner Associates, P.C., Boston, MA, for Plaintiffs.
John J. Davis, Pierce, Davis & Perritano, LLP, Boston, MA, for Defendants.
Eben A. Krim, Proskauer Rose, LLP, Sarah R. Wunsch, Boston, MA, for Amicus ACLU of Massachusetts, Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders, Human Rights Campaign Foundation, Human Rights Campaign, Lexington C.A.R.E.S, Lexington Teachers Association, Massachusetts Teachers Association, Respecting Differences.
Plaintiffs David and Tonia Parker, and Robert and Robin Wirthlin, brought this action in 2006, individually and on behalf of their respective minor children, Jacob and Joshua Parker, and Joseph Wirthlin, Jr. ("Joey"). They are suing various employees of the Lexington, Massachusetts public schools and members of the Lexington School Committee in both their individual and official capacities.1
Massachusetts law prohibits discrimination in public schools based on sex or sexual orientation. It also requires that public school curricula encourage respect for all individuals regardless of, among other things, sexual orientation. Pursuant to these directives, the Massachusetts Department of Education has issued standards which encourage instruction for prekindergarten through fifth grade students concerning different types of people and families.
Jacob Parker and Joey Wirthlin are students in a Lexington elementary school. When he was in kindergarten, Jacob was given a book that depicts various forms of families, including one that includes parents of the same gender. When he was in first grade, Joey was read a book about a prince who married another prince. Both books were part of the Lexington school system's effort to educate its students to understand and respect gays, lesbians, and the families they sometimes form in Massachusetts, which recognizes same-sex marriage.
Jacob and Joey's parents each have sincerely held religious beliefs that homosexuality is immoral and that marriage is necessarily only a holy union between a man and a woman. They do not wish to have their young children exposed to views that contradict these beliefs and their teaching of them. The Parkers and Wirthlins allege that the defendants are attempting to "indoctrinate" their children with the belief that homosexuality and same-sex marriages are moral, and to "denigrate" the contrary view that they wish to instill in their children.
The Parkers and Wirthlins assert that the defendants' conduct violates their rights under the United States Constitution to raise their children and to the free exercise of their religion. They also contend that the defendants have violated the laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, including the statute that requires that parents be given notice and an opportunity to exempt their children from any curriculum that "primarily involves human sexual education or human sexuality issues." M.G.L. c. 71, § 32A.
The defendants have moved to dismiss this case. As explained in detail in this Memorandum, plaintiffs have not alleged facts which constitute a violation of the Constitution or any law of the United States. Therefore, their federal claims are being dismissed with prejudice. Plaintiffs' state law claims are also being dismissed, but without prejudice to their being reinstituted in the courts of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
In summary, the court must dismiss plaintiffs' federal claims because this case is not distinguishable in any material respect from Brown v. Hot, Sexy and Safer Productions, 68 F.3d 525 (1st Cir.1995). In Brown, the First Circuit held that the constitutional right of parents to raise their children does not include the right to restrict what a public school may teach their children and that teachings which contradict a parent's religious beliefs do not violate their First Amendment right to exercise their religion. Id. at 534, 539. The reasoning and holding of Brown have been reaffirmed by the First Circuit, have been found to be persuasive by many other Courts of Appeals in comparable cases, and have not been undermined by any decision of the Supreme Court. Therefore, Brown constitutes binding precedent which dictates the decision to dismiss plaintiffs' federal claims in this case.
In essence, under the Constitution public schools are entitled to teach anything that is reasonably related to the goals of preparing students to become engaged and productive citizens in our democracy. Diversity is a hallmark of our nation. It is increasingly evident that our diversity includes differences in sexual orientation. Our nation's history includes a fundamental commitment to promoting mutual respect among citizens in our diverse nation that is manifest in the First Amendment's prohibitions on establishing an official religion and restricting the free exercise of religious beliefs on which plaintiffs base some of their federal claims. Our history also includes instances of individual and official discrimination against gays and lesbians, among others. It is reasonable for public educators to teach elementary school students about individuals with different sexual orientations and about various forms of families, including those with same-sex parents, in an effort to eradicate the effects of past discrimination, to reduce the risk of future discrimination and, in the process, to reaffirm our nation's constitutional commitment to promoting mutual respect among members of our diverse society. In addition, it is reasonable for those educators to find that teaching young children to understand and respect differences in sexual orientation will contribute to an academic environment in which students who are gay, lesbian, or the children of same-sex parents will be comfortable and, therefore, better able to learn.
When, as here, federal claims are dismissed at the outset of a case, the related state law claims should usually be dismissed as well, without prejudice to their being pursued in state court. It is particularly appropriate that the state law claims in this case now be dismissed.
As indicated earlier, those claims include plaintiffs' contention that the defendants have violated the Massachusetts statute which requires that parents be given notice and an opportunity to exempt their children from any curriculum that "primarily involves human sexual education or human sexuality." M.G.L. c. 71, § 32A. The defendants contend that the statute does not provide private individuals the power to sue to enforce it. They also argue that the conduct in question in this case is not covered by the statute. The courts of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts have not decided these issues. It is most appropriate to allow those courts to decide authoritatively the meaning of the Massachusetts statute.
Therefore, all of plaintiffs' claims are being dismissed. However, the limits of what is now being decided should be recognized.
Parents do have a fundamental right to raise their children. They are not required to abandon that responsibility to the state. The Parkers and Wirthlins may send their children to a private school that does not seek to foster understandings of homosexuality or same-sex marriage that conflict with their religious beliefs. They may also educate their children at home. In addition, the plaintiffs may attempt to persuade others to join them in electing a Lexington School Committee that will implement a curriculum that is more compatible with their beliefs. However, the Parkers and Wirthlins have chosen to send their children to the Lexington public schools with its current curriculum. The Constitution does not permit them to prescribe what those children will be taught.
It should also be recognized that while the Constitution does not compel the defendants to revise the Lexington elementary school curriculum, or to permit the Parkers and Wirthlins to exempt their children from teaching about homosexuality or same-sex marriage, it also does not prohibit the defendants from voluntarily accommodating the parents' concerns if there is a reasonable way to do so. Finding a reasonable accommodation may be a challenging task. Allowing parents to exempt their children from classes primarily involving human sexual education may not injure the value of those classes for the students who remain. However, as Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote in his journal, "`I pay the school master', but `tis the school boys that educate my son.'" James O. Freedman, Idealism and Liberal Education 63 (1999). An exodus from class when issues of homosexuality or same-sex marriage are to be discussed could send the message that gays, lesbians, and the children of same-sex parents are inferior and, therefore, have a damaging effect on those students. Cf. Brown v. Board of Education, 347 U.S. 483, 494, 74 S.Ct. 686, 98 L.Ed. 873 (1954).2 It might also undermine the defendants' efforts to educate the remaining other students to understand and respect differences in sexual orientation.
Nevertheless, it is evident to the court that this dispute involves parents who are passionately devoted to their children, many people who support them, and committed educators and their many supporters as well. Profound differences in religious beliefs are also a hallmark of our diverse nation. It is often in a community's interest to try to find a reasonable way to accommodate those differences. Litigation of the remaining state law claims in state court will result in a judicial decision of the issues presented. It is not likely to end the intense disagreement between the parties or the divisive impact of it on their community. Therefore, the parties may wish to attempt to mediate their dispute before...
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