Overview

• U.S. District Judge Paul Maloney allowed Dan and Jennifer Mead’s Fourteenth Amendment parental-rights and procedural due process claims against Michigan’s Rockford Public Schools to move forward.
• The court dismissed the family’s Free Exercise claim, concluding the district did not compel belief or conduct by using the student’s requested name and pronouns.
• According to the complaint, staff used a masculine name and male pronouns for the girl at school, concealed the change from her parents, and altered documents sent home, with one missed reference exposing the practice.
• Maloney wrote that alleged intentional deception could interfere with parents’ ability to direct their child’s upbringing and medical care, and he found the district’s safety and privacy rationales insufficient at this stage.
• The case, brought by Alliance Defending Freedom, now proceeds toward discovery and stands in tension with a recent First Circuit decision, highlighting divergent approaches that may draw further appellate review.