Free speech litigation brought by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) is set to move forward against Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District (UCISD) after a parent claimed his rights were violated by the district when it banned him from all school property.
FIRE claims the ban is a violation of the parent’s First Amendment right to criticize the local school district and police department. FIRE issued a May 22 deadline for the district to lift the man’s criminal trespass warning, a deadline the organization said the district did not meet.
UCISD parent Adam Martinez, whose son Zayon survived the Robb Elementary mass shooting last year, had attended a school board meeting back in February. He posted a video of himself on Twitter speaking to district police at the meeting about his concerns over the UCISD Police Department’s hiring practices.
Though they did eventually neutralize the shooter, Uvalde law enforcement’s response during the Robb Elementary massacre was heavily criticized and became the subject of more than one investigation. This is in contrast to the quick police action seen for instance in the recent shooting at Allen Premium Outlets.
Martinez said the policeman in the school board meeting video, Police Chief Josh Gutierrez, asked him to sit down after Martinez expressed his concerns. When Martinez refused, citing the lack of a public forum for citizens to express their views, he was escorted out of the building and banned from setting foot on school district property for two years.
“The First Amendment exists so that people can use their voices to advocate for social and political change,” said FIRE attorney Jeff Zeman in a press release. “Criticizing the government is protected speech, and Uvalde can’t police it.”
The ban was ordered by UCISD’s superintendent, Gary Patterson. Martinez was issued a formal criminal trespass warning.
“I just really wanted to have a conversation with him about it because it’s really hard to get answers from them. I’ve sent emails before with no answers. They don’t have [an] open forum like other places where you can get up and speak. He asked me to sit down, and I didn’t sit down, and he ended up banning me,” Martinez said, speaking with Texas Public Radio.
Martinez had to file an official grievance with the district just to allow him to pick his daughter up from school as well as attend his son’s baseball practices. While he won that hearing, Martinez was still banned from district school board meetings, among other events on school property.
He was also recently allowed to attend his nephew’s graduation.
As previously reported by The Dallas Express, a similar situation transpired in the McKinney Independent School District in North Texas, where a local man who criticized school board trustees was summarily issued a criminal trespass warning and banned from district property.
After the man pursued a case against the district, an administrative judge with the Texas Education Agency recommended that his ban should be lifted.
