Wisconsin mom wins appeals court free speech case over ‘woke’ school posts

A Wisconsin mom and conservative activist has received a free speech case after being sued for defamation over social media posts criticizing her faculty district’s “woke” priorities.

Scarlett Johnson, chief of the Wisconsin chapter Mothers for Liberty, was sued by Mary MacCudden, a former English trainer and “social justice coordinator” for the Mequon-Thiensville College District (MTSD), after Johnson posted crucial messages on social media in October 2022.

Johnson posted a screenshot of MacCudden’s LinkedIn profile and wrote, “Why the hell am I paying for a ‘social justice coordinator’ in my faculty district?” She added, “That is precisely what @mtschools wants; extra woke, white girls with a god complicated. Thanks, white savior.”

In different posts, Johnson described DEI specialists as “woke lunatics” and “bullies” who bully mother and father “in silence and docility.”

Wisconsin Mothers for Liberty activist Scarlett Johnson was sued for defamation by a former trainer in a Wisconsin faculty district after Johnson criticized the varsity district for hiring a “woke” social justice coordinator. (Scarlett Johnson/Michael M. Santiago/Getty Photos)

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MacCudden filed a defamation lawsuit in 2022. The court docket allowed components of the case to proceed, however Johnson and her attorneys on the Wisconsin Institute for Legislation and Liberty (WILL) appealed the choice.

WILL argued that Johnson’s feedback have been “mundane social media posts” protected by the First Modification.

On Tuesday, the Wisconsin Court docket of Appeals sided with Johnson, ruling that her feedback have been opinions, not statements of proven fact that may very well be confirmed true or false, and due to this fact couldn’t be thought-about defamatory.

“We conclude that Johnson’s statements don’t represent defamation. Subsequently, we reverse and ask the court docket to grant abstract judgment in Johnson’s favor,” the appeals court docket dominated.

Protesters descend on Philadelphia as President Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis ship remarks at Mothers for Liberty’s “Joyful Warriors Nationwide Summit” in 2023. (Fox Information picture/Joshua Comins)

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Phrases like “bully” and “loopy” are subjective, the court docket argued, whereas the phrases “woke,” “White savior” and “God complicated” are “imprecise and don’t have any clear which means or definition,” the court docket mentioned.

One choose disagreed, saying the messages recognized MacCudden by title and probably implied undisclosed information {that a} jury must take into account.

Johnson mentioned she noticed the lawsuit as an try and silence her and different mother and father who spoke out in opposition to DEI applications. She recalled being confronted with an analogous defamation declare simply days earlier than the 2021 faculty board election, calling it a politically timed try and intimidate her.

An indication studying “We Do Not CO-PARENT with the Authorities” is seen within the hallway throughout the inaugural Mothers For Liberty Summit on the Tampa Marriott Water Avenue on July 15, 2022 in Tampa, Florida. (Octavio Jones)

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“I felt like I needed to combat again on this case. It could not be just like the others. I needed to rise up as a result of this was by no means going to cease,” she advised Fox Information Digital. “They stored going after mother and father like me.”

She added that she hopes the ruling encourages different mother and father to talk out in opposition to “radical ideologies” in public colleges with out worry of being sued.

“This units a authorized precedent,” she says. “Mother and father in all places can converse the reality about what is occurring at their faculty, with barely much less worry that they are going to be taken to court docket for frivolous lawsuits.”

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WILL deputy counsel Luke Berg praised the ruling a statement.

“Scarlett, like all of us, has the appropriate to query and criticize her authorities. The defamation lawsuit in opposition to her was meritless and will have been dismissed instantly. We’re happy that the Court docket agreed and that Scarlett can put this distraction behind her,” he mentioned.

Fox Information Digital reached out to MacCudden’s legal professional, James McAlister, for remark however didn’t obtain a response.

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