WASHINGTON, D.C. — Michigan parent Sandra Hernden, represented by the Mackinac Center Legal Foundation, has filed a petition for writ of certiorari to the U.S. Supreme Court. She asks the court to review whether a school board president violated the First Amendment by reporting her to the U.S. Department of Justice after she spoke critically at school board meetings.

The case arises from a 2021 disagreement over COVID-19 education policies. Hernden, a police officer and mother of a special-needs child whose grades dropped during remote learning, opposed the policy as well as certain curriculum choices. She regularly voiced her concerns at Chippewa Valley School Board meetings.

During the same period, the National School Boards Association sent a letter to the Biden administration likening parental free speech at school board meetings to “domestic terrorism.” Days later, then-Attorney General Merrick Garland directed the FBI and federal prosecutors to investigate these so-called threats.

The day after, Hernden emailed board members about a recent 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals case striking down school board limits on speech and implied she would sue if the board restricted her speech. The Board President construed this email as a physical threat and submitted this email to the DOJ’s tip portal and asked the department to “curb this behavior.”

Hernden filed suit for First Amendment retaliation. Both the district court and the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed that her school-board testimony was protected speech but nevertheless ruled in favor of the board. The courts held that an ordinary person would not be afraid of being sent to the U.S. DOJ.

One 6th Circuit judge disagreed about whether people fear prosecution but would have ruled against Hernden on other grounds.

Hernden’s petition asks the Supreme Court to resolve a conflict among federal appellate courts on whether a government official’s referral to law enforcement to chill speech constitutes retaliation.

“Reporting dissenting parents as ‘domestic terrorists’ is intimidation, not governance,” said Patrick Wright, vice president for legal affairs at the Mackinac Center Legal Foundation. “When government officials use federal reporting systems against people who criticize them, the message to every parent is clear: Speak at your own risk.”

The petition for writ of certiorari was filed on December 15, 2025. The document is accessible HERE.