The introduction to today's long opinion by Judge Roger Benitez in Mirabelli v. Olson (S.D. Cal.):
Long before Horace Mann advocated in the 1840's for a system of common schools and compulsory education, parents have carried out their rights and responsibility to direct the general and medical care and religious upbringing of their child. "The history and culture of Western civilization reflect a strong tradition of parental concern for the nurture and upbringing of their children. This primary role of the parents in the upbringing of their children is now established beyond debate as an enduring American tradition." Wisconsin v. Yoder (1972). It is a right and a responsibility that parents still hold. Mahmoud v. Taylor (2025) (applying Yoder as "embod[ying] a principle of general applicability"). The role of a parent includes a duty to recognize symptoms of illness and to seek medical advice. Parham v. J.R. These rights are protected by the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution. Troxel v. Granville (2000) ("It is cardinal with us that the custody, care and nurture of the child reside first in the parents, whose primary function and freedom include preparation for obligations the state can neither supply nor hinder."). Fortunately, the natural bonds of affection normally lead parents to act in the best interests of their child. Parham.
With these longstanding principles in mind, this case presents the following four questions about a parent's rights to information as against a public school's policy of secrecy when it comes to a student's gender identification. First, do parents have a right to gender information based on the Fourteenth Amendment's substantive due process clause? Second, do parents have a right to gender information protected by the First Amendment's free exercise of religion clause? Third, do religious public school teachers have a right to provide gender information to parents based on the First Amendment's free exercise clause? Fourth, do public school teachers have a right to communicate accurate gender information to parents based on the First Amendment free speech clause? In each case, this Court concludes that, as a matter of law, the answer is "yes." Parents have a right to receive gender information and teachers have a right to provide to parents accurate information about a child's gender identity.
