Supreme Court Denies Cert in Second Parental Rights Case

Pictured above: Parental Rights Foundation Vice President Patti Sullivan with January Littlejohn at a Florida event in 2025.

Twice in as many weeks, the United States Supreme Court declined to take up a case that could establish clear, firm support for parental rights. 

Two weeks ago, the Court declined to consider Foote v. Ludlow, a case out of the First Circuit (New England) regarding school employees keeping secrets from parents about the health and well-being of their minor children (as we reported here). Now the Court has made the same determination to not hear Littlejohn v. School Board of Leon County (Florida) out of the Eleventh Circuit.

The Parental Rights Foundation submitted amicus (friend of the court) briefs in both the Foote and Littlejohn cases, urging the Supreme Court to seize the opportunity not only to reiterate and restore parental rights, but to correct the lack of “strict judicial scrutiny” protection in their last parental rights decision, Troxel v. Granville (2000).

The decision to “deny certiorari” in Littlejohn (or decline to take up the case on appeal), was announced last Monday, April 27.* On that same day, Vernadette Broyles, President and Chief Counsel of the Child and Parental Rights Campaign who represented January Littlejohn in her case, told a group of allied partners that while she is disappointed in the Court’s decision, this is not the end for parents. 

Parents are more awake to what is happening than they were before this litigation, she explained. As a result, families are engaging with their school boards and legislatures to correct the policies that have led to these parental rights and child privacy violations in the first place.

The sum total of recent Supreme Court decisions regarding parental rights has, on the whole, been somewhat confusing. The Mahmoud v. Taylor decision last summer declared very clear support for traditional parental rights in directing the upbringing and education of their children, especially as it pertains to the religious upbringing of children who attend public schools.

And last month’s preliminary injunction in Mirabelli v. Bonta further communicated the position of the Court that states cannot require teachers to keep secrets from parents (or to lie to parents) about the welfare of the parents’ children. 

But Mirabelli was only a preliminary injunction, not a decision of the case on its merits. It directs the lower courts still considering the case in how to get it right, but it does not create a precedent for other cases around the country. And though it signals the thinking of the Supreme Court that parental rights are fundamental and demand respect, it doesn’t force lower courts to honor those ideals.

Now, with both Foote and Littlejohn declined, it seems as though the Supreme Court’s determination to protect families by strengthening parental rights has suddenly run out of steam.

It is a disappointing turn after such positive signals from Mahmoud and Mirabelli.

That said, though, we will not give up.

Your Parental Rights Foundation continues to watch for amicus opportunities in cases similar to these, so that we can continue to weigh in on behalf of traditional, pre-governmental, fundamental parental rights.

We also keep our ears open to work with state and local lawmakers to encourage legislation and resolutions that support parental rights and protect children from secret mental health care by unlicensed government employees. (Find our model school board resolution here.)

Ultimately, though, it may just take the Parental Rights Amendment to the U.S. Constitution to restore the high level of strict scrutiny protection that the Supreme Court missed in Troxel. Because here we are, only weeks from some very good signs that the Court might fix that oversight itself, and they are now signaling that they have no intention of doing so.

If the Court won’t correct its own error, it falls to the people, through the amendment process, to address that deficit ourselves. 

Though these back-to-back denials of certiorari are disappointing, we do not lose hope, and I urge you to stand strong, as well. We will continue to win victories one by one as long as we persevere in protecting children by empowering parents.

Thank you for standing with us.

*(The Parental Rights Foundation decided to hold the news until this week so that we could release our State of Parental Rights in America 2026 last week, which had already been postponed once due to the Foote decision announcement. If you haven’t yet seen that first-of-its-kind publication, you can check it out here.)