New Article: Jonathan D. Glater, A Brief Reflection on the Doctrinal Entrenchment of Inequality: Brach v. Newsom, Cal. L. Rev (2022). Introduction below:
In spring 2020, many parents of children in California schools closed during the global pandemic had had enough. A group filed a lawsuit challenging the executive orders requiring compliance with state public health directives that in turn mandated the shuttering of schools. The parents asserted that the closures violated rights protected by the Fourteenth Amendment, the Civil Rights Act, the Rehabilitation Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. The trial court judge sua sponte granted summary judgment to the defendants. On appeal, a panel of the Ninth Circuit reversed the trial court’s decision with respect to the parents of children who attended private schools and upheld it with respect to the parents of children who attended public school. Put slightly differently, a majority of the three-judge panel recognized compelling constitutional interests in education for the parents likely to be more privileged—because of their ability to pay for private education—and denied such protection to parents whose children attended public schools. It is perhaps no wonder that as of this writing, the case is headed for en banc review.
Poverty Law 