A Wisconsin appeals court ruled on Tuesday that a Moms for Liberty activist has the right to call her school district “woke” after a former school employee sued her for defamation.
Moms for Liberty Social Media Director Scarlett Johnson, a mother of five, engaged in protected speech when slamming Homestead High School in Mequon on social media for having a “Social Justice Coordinator” position in 2022, the appeals court found. Mary MacCudden, who formerly held the job, won against Johnson in lower court before her legal team appealed the defamation case.
“Free speech belongs to every mom, dad, and citizen who demands answers and accountability from their government,” Johnson said in a statement published by Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty (WILL), which represented her in court. “I am grateful that WILL stood alongside me in this legal battle. Parents across the country are speaking out against radical ideology in our schools, and our fight does not stop today.”
MacCudden resigned from Homestead High School in Mequon-Thiensville School District (MTSD) in January 2022 but did not update her LinkedIn profile, and ten months later, Johnson became aware that her LinkedIn profile listed her as “Social Justice Coordinator” and began posting critically about MTSD on social media, the court noted.
“[w]hy the hell am I paying for a ‘Social Justice Coordinator’ in my school district?” Johnson wrote, according to the ruling. She also called employees specializing in such areas “woke lunatics.”
“[t]his is just what [MTSD] needs; more woke, white women w/ a god complex,” Johnson wrote. “Thank you, white savior.”
James McAlister, an attorney for MacCudden, told the Daily Caller News Foundation that her team is “disappointed” by the appeals court’s decision. He added that Judge Pedro Colon was right to argue in a dissenting opinion that Johnson’s statements about MacCudden holding a “Social Justice Coordinator” role could be seen as statements of fact, not constitutionally protected opinions.
“That said, I would note that Ms. Johnson contended a defamation trial would violate her First Amendment rights, and the Court of Appeals never addressed that First Amendment argument,” McAlister told the DCNF.
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