The Department of Justice has issued a new policy aimed at defending parental rights and First Amendment freedoms in schools. On September 8, 2025, Attorney General Pamela Bondi sent a memorandum to all United States Attorneys outlining the department’s approach to preventing and addressing violations of these rights in educational settings.
The memo instructs U.S. Attorneys to work with federal, state, and local partners to identify and respond to credible threats against parents whose federal rights may have been violated.
Attorney General Bondi stated that under the leadership of President Trump and herself, parents’ First Amendment rights and their “fundamental right to direct the moral and religious education of their children” will be protected from unlawful attacks.
United States Attorney Ellis Boyle for the Eastern District of North Carolina commented on the policy’s implementation locally. “Here in the Eastern District of North Carolina, parents should feel safe to raise their children in accord with their religion and customs and as the Supreme Court recently recognized in Mahmoud v. Taylor to protect them from the radical ideology that has infiltrated our schools. We will protect parental rights when parents interact with their children’s schools. To promote this and inform parents across the District, we shared a copy of the Attorney General’s memo with all county boards of education in the EDNC, the North Carolina Department of Education, the Speaker of the North Carolina House of Representatives, and the President Pro Tempore of the North Carolina Senate. Let me be very clear – here in Eastern North Carolina, we fully support the Attorney General’s policy, and we will act quickly to enforce it. Conspiring to violate constitutional rights is a crime under federal law. We will enforce these laws.”
The full text of Attorney General Bondi’s memorandum is available online at https://www.justice.gov/ag/media/1413671/dl?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery
