Parent Banned From School Gets Second Try at Free Speech Suit

An Arizona parent will get another try on her claims that her children’s principal defamed her and that the school district retaliated against her for exercising protected speech, a federal appeals court ruled Wednesday.

A lower court erroneously entered judgment as a matter of law in favor of the Marana Unified School District, because a reasonable jury may conclude Rebecca Hartzell was unconstitutionally banned from school property, according to an opinion from the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, reversing the district court’s ruling in part. The lower court also erred in granting Principal Andrea Divijak summary judgment ...