Modesto, CA - Early this week, the school board of Modesto took a “side-door” to maintain the current relatively parent-friendly policy of opt-in/opt-out in regard to Confidential Medical Services (CMS). The board was considering a controversial new policy that would allow students to leave campus for “confidential medical services” – including abortions – without their parents’ knowledge.

PJI was contacted last month by several parents, teachers and residents of Modesto who had strong concerns about this proposed policy and the erosion of parental rights. After speaking to concerned parents, Pacific Justice Institute sent a legal opinion letter stressing that California law does not require that school districts allow minors to leave campus without parental consent for Confidential Medical Services.

At last Monday night’s follow-up meeting there was no motion to consider the final vote, thus no votes were cast and the proposal died. Although the method was unusual and allowed two particular members to abstain from a controversial vote, the outcome was a victory upholding parents as the first and foremost caregivers and authority figures in their children’s lives. It is clear that the board is now willing to consider an “open forum” with the community to seek a better solution.

Earlier this year, PJI attorneys, partnering with others such as Penny Harrington of Concerned Women for America and Attorney Dean Broyles of Western Center for Law and Policy, succeeded in persuading the Vista Unified School District’s School Board to adopt a similar parent-friendly policy. “Working together, school boards can quickly learn that they do not have to surrender to outside groups committed to thwarting parents while victimizing children,” said Brad Dacus, President of Pacific Justice Institute.

Parents are encouraged to find out what their school board policy is in regards to CMS and to contact PJI as needed to help communicate clearly the current “Education Code.”

Sacramento, CA - The Pacific Justice Institute (PJI) is launching its new Center for Public Policy (CPP), a 501(c)(4) organization, this week in an effort to assist California legislators to enact laws benefiting all Californians.

First up on CPP’s agenda: reforming Child Protective Services. Created to protect California children from abusive home environments, the agency has garnered a reputation for abusing its power, particularly where minorities are concerned.

“We hope to build a broad, bipartisan coalition of people to address a common problem that is causing great harm to our communities,” PJI President Brad Dacus said. “The greatest invasion of minority rights is not in the schools or in the workplace. It appears at their doorstep when social workers seek to break up their families.”

Reforming CPS is one of many undertakings CPP will be involved in as it seeks a more proactive role in matters of public policy.

If you would like to contribute to CPP, please click here if you are visiting PJI’s website (www.pacificjustice.org) or contact PJI by mail at P.O. Box 276600, Sacramento, CA 95827-6600. Please note that donations to 501(c)(4) organizations like CPP are not tax-deductible.

Oakland, CA - Pacific Justice Institute announced today that it has opened an office to serve the greater San Francisco Bay Area. The office is located in downtown Oakland, 10 minutes from San Francisco and Berkeley.

With increased litigation and other needs for representation in the region, PJI attorneys have been traveling to the Bay Area on a weekly basis for some time. “The San Francisco region is without a doubt one of the most hostile places in the country toward religious liberties and values,” noted Brad Dacus, president of the Pacific Justice Institute. “But with growing challenges come greater opportunities. We are thrilled to have a new way to serve the courageous faith community in the Bay Area, and also to provide resources for our many affiliate attorneys in San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose, and nearby cities.” In addition to the new office, PJI continues to maintain offices staffed by full-time attorneys in Sacramento and Southern California.

The Bay Area office, on the edge of Oakland’s Chinatown, will be headed by PJI Chief Counsel Kevin Snider. With this opening, PJI will become the only public interest legal organization in the Bay Area specializing in meeting the needs of churches, parents and people of faith. “The hostility and intimidation towards this protected class has created a general environment of fear and intimidation,” said Snider, referring to the longtime legal designation of religion as a fundamental, legally protected class. “We want people of faith in the Bay Area to know that they are not alone,” he continued.

Those who share the mission of Pacific Justice Institute and would like to donate legal services, administrative and clerical skills, or financial support for this new endeavor should contact PJI headquarters at (916) 857-6900.

Alameda, CA - A group of parents filed a lawsuit today against Alameda Unified School District after the District denied their requests to excuse their young children from controversial lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) instruction.

In late May, despite strong opposition by parents at school board meetings, AUSD approved a supplemental curriculum that will promote LGBT alternative families to kindergarten and elementary-age students. Since AUSD adopted the curriculum, numerous parents have sent letters to Superintendent Kristen Vital, requesting that their young students be opted out of the controversial instruction. The District recently sent form letters denying all of the parents’ requests.

While the District has claimed that a LGBT curriculum was necessary to address bullying and harassment in elementary schools, documentation from the District obtained by Pacific Justice Institute through a public records request shows that the vast majority of reported incidents on AUSD campuses involve racial tension and opposite-sex sexual harassment, not sexual orientation. In fact, school incident reports show that there were no complaints of harassment due to sexual orientation in AUSD elementary grades.

Today, staff attorneys for Pacific Justice Institute filed suit in Alameda Superior Court, seeking enforcement of opt-out provisions in the California Education Code. Kevin Snider, PJI Chief Counsel, commented, “Alameda parents believe all children deserve safe schools. Parents do not support LGBT indoctrination that fails to address the main causes of bullying and harassment in the District and intentionally omits children belonging to the other five protected classes,” Snider stated, referring to race and ethnicity, gender, disability, nationality and religion. “It is their right to remove their children from this highly controversial program, and we intend to vigorously defend that right,” he continued.

Lodi, CA - Attorneys for Pacific Justice Institute sent a legal memorandum today to the Lodi City Council offering a solution to a controversy that has erupted in the city over invocations before City Council meetings.

In May, the Wisconsin-based Freedom from Religion Foundation urged the City Council not to allow invocations at City Council meetings to end “in Jesus’ name.” This week, opposing sides of the issue rallied in front of the bi-monthly City Council meeting to express their views, and the City Council is expected to hear public sentiment on the issue again in late September. Lodi is located about 35 miles south of Sacramento.

In the memo from Pacific Justice Institute, which is based in Sacramento, Chief Counsel Kevin Snider discussed leading cases involving public invocations and encouraged the Council to adopt a neutral policy allowing ministers and other members of the public to open the meetings with prayer or other comments, free of any censorship by the Council. Under such an approach, prayers in Jesus’ name could not be singled out for exclusion. PJI also offered to represent the Council at no charge. In a federal case in Washington, D.C., PJI is currently defending Revs. Rick Warren and Joseph Lowery, who were sued by atheists for offering public prayers at President Obama’s inauguration.

Brad Dacus, president of Pacific Justice Institute, commented, “It is simply un-American for the government to censor speech, including the mention of God or Jesus, by private citizens in a public setting. We are offering the City of Lodi a practical, constitutional solution to this needless controversy so the out-of-state special interests can fold their tents and go home.”