Overview
- The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in a 2-1 decision upheld the InterMountain Education Service District’s termination of educator Rod Theis for displaying three books the district deemed a gender-identity bias incident.
- The panel majority wrote that Theis spoke as a government employee when he put the books where students could see them, placing that display outside First Amendment protection for personal speech.
- Judge Lawrence VanDyke dissented, arguing the majority’s approach would treat any staff expression observable by students as government speech and said that ruling conflicts with Supreme Court precedent.
- The dispute grew from a 2024 complaint and a partial federal injunction that allowed the books when students were absent but, after students viewed the books days later, the district concluded Theis violated policy and the court order.
- The Alliance Defending Freedom said it is evaluating next steps and further appeals are likely, making Supreme Court review a possible outcome that could clarify how schools balance anti-bias rules and staff free-speech rights.