Attorney General James Uthmeier said his office is “putting our money where our mouth is” in announcing a state-funded legal team dedicated to enforcing parents-rights laws.
Addressing a crowd of fourth graders at Jacksonville Classical Academy Tuesday, Uthmeier said his office is “making sure that we’re walking the walk and setting examples” in enforcing laws related to gender transition, library materials, school surveys, and other topics that have dominated legislative, judicial, and executive conversations in recent years.
Uthmeier announced the creation of the Office of Parental Rights, a “team of litigators focused on fighting the fights that parents bring to us.”
“It’s frustrating that we do have to go so far as to enshrine in law a lot of these rights that are indeed God-given,” Uthmeier said. “But at the end of the day, government is weak. Government cannot be trusted, and we want to protect parents everywhere we can.”
Uthmeier was flanked by Moms for Liberty co-founder Tiffany Justice, Patti Sullivan from Parental Rights Florida, Kim Hermann from Southeastern Legal Foundation, and January Littlejohn, a Leon County parent who claims a school aided her child’s gender transition, although the school has prevailed in court proceedings so far.
Uthmeier said his office will coordinate with the Department of Education to address complaints to be handled by the Office of Parental Rights.
“I understand you guys probably don’t fully appreciate the importance of the announcement here today, but you will grow up fast,” Uthmeier said, addressing the fourth-graders. “You will have your own kids, your own families. It will happen much faster than you think. And I assure you, you will appreciate what’s being done here today.”
Uthmeier said Florida has been a “shining city on a hill, an example for the rest of the country to look to when it comes to enshrining parental rights.”
Lawmakers have focused heavily on enabling parents to remove books from school libraries they may consider to be “pornographic,” require parental consent to take surveys related to mental health concerns and sexual behavior, and parental notifications relating to a student’s education.
Litigation for some of the laws has become costly. For example, in Escambia County, as of December, the school district had spent more than $640,000 to defend book-removal policies, the Tallahassee Democrat reported.
“We’re certainly not looking to run up costs, but when it comes to fighting the right fights, I’ll spend every dollar we have,” Uthmeier said.
Last week, a bill (HB 1505) to require parental consent for any survey offered to a child, including about mental health, politics, and sexual health, passed the House on a party-line vote. It would expand the state’s “Parental Bill of Rights” and includes mandatory parental consent for STI treatment.
Similar legislation is awaiting debate on the Senate floor.
Uthmeier has been in office less that three months. He was appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis earlier this year, filling the vacancy created by former AG Ashley Moody’s appointment by DeSantis to the U.S. Senate.
–Jay Waagmeester, Florida Phoenix
Deborah Coffey says
What stupidity! It’s even very bad Fascism. The Republican Party will be finished off soon. Hooray!
A very concerned person with a precious child in our public school system says
PLEASE! Uthmeier- fight the good fight and spend every dollar we have to stop gun violence in our schools. If I, as a taxpayer, have to pay for a team of litigators I vote to pay for gun sensing equipment in every school, as well as resource officers. It is offensive that you would indoctrinate 4th graders with your agenda when you didn’t have all the childrens’ parents approval to give this talk? Seems one sided for championing parents rights. I vote for the safety of my child’s life- which doesn’t seem to be taken very seriously.