Week In Review: Who’s on This Secret Government Blacklist?

No judge. No jury. No due process. The government unjustly prosecuted Tucson mom Sarra L. for parenting her child. Now, the Goldwater Institute is stepping in to defend Sarra’s due process rights and clear her name.

Sarra’s only “crime” was to leave her 7-year-old son and his friend to play on the playground while she made a quick trip to the grocery store a few blocks away—and while an adult friend at the park was keeping an eye on the children. The children were never in danger, yet the government still charged her with child endangerment. Then, with zero regard for her due process rights, the Arizona Department of Child Safety (DCS) unilaterally decided she was a neglectful parent who should be placed on the state’s secretive “Do Not Hire” blacklist for abusive parents—for the next 25 years.

“Overzealous bureaucrats shouldn’t be allowed to prosecute parents for letting their kids play in public parks,” Goldwater Vice President for Litigation Timothy Sandefur says. “The court should, once again, rebuke DCS for meddling in the decisions of parents who have done nothing wrong.”

Read more about how we’re teaming up with Pacific Legal Foundation to defend Sarra’s due process rights at In Defense of Liberty.

What Is the University of Arizona Hiding?

Orwellian. It’s a word that aptly describes the University of Arizona’s campus reporting apparatus, which encourages students to snitch on their peers for politically incorrect or “biased” speech. And the school even refused to release records of these “bias” complaints—public information that it has a legal obligation to disclose—when a reporter asked to see them. On Wednesday, Goldwater sent a letter to the university demanding it comply with Arizona law and release the records.

Across the country, leftists are using bias response teams to breed an army of young people who inform on one another at the slightest deviation from the script of political correctness. So what is the University of Arizona hiding? Is it afraid that revealing the “bias” incidents reported to administrators will expose the Orwellian nature of this system?

That’s exactly what Goldwater intends to find out. Moreover, we released model legislation this week in partnership with Speech First to prohibit public universities and community colleges from operating any such system that works to chill student speech. All around the nation, Goldwater is working to ensure that American colleges resemble safe havens for free and open exchange rather than a surveillance state.

Read about how we’re demanding the University of Arizona comply with the law here, and learn more about our “Protecting Students from Bias Reporting Systems” model policy here.

Students Need to Know their Birthright of Liberty

In public schools nationwide, children are being indoctrinated with destructive falsehoods that teach them America is fundamentally based on racism and hatred. That’s why the Goldwater Institute has joined a coalition of organizations endorsing American Birthright: The Civics Alliance’s Model K-12 Social Studies Standards.

The new standards recognize a simple truth: Students need to know about their birthright of liberty. “Above all, American Birthright teaches about the expansion of American liberty to include all Americans, the contributions that Americans from every walk of life have made to our shared history of liberty, and America’s championship of liberty throughout the world,” the Civics Alliance says.

The standards can offer guidance to public school districts crafting their own curricula, in addition to serving as a resource for private schools to adopt and home-schooling families to seek out. Goldwater is proud to stand alongside the families fed up with the woke indoctrination and unaccountability running rampant throughout the public education establishment. And we’ll never stop defending every child’s right to receive the education they deserve.

You can read more about the American Birthright standards here.

FREE MOVIE SCREENING: The Film They Don’t Want You to See

It’s a story that cannot die in a prison cell, no matter how much the communist Chinese government tries to squash it. When Hong Kong’s basic freedoms come under attack, one man finds himself in the crosshairs of the state, and he must choose between defending Hong Kong’s long-standing liberties, or his own freedom. Now, you can see this incredible story for yourself.

The Goldwater Institute invites you to a complimentary screening of the must-see documentary The Hong Konger at 6:30 PM on August 11^th at the AMC Arizona Center 24 theater in Phoenix. This event is held in partnership with the Acton Institute and Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation. Following the film, we’ll be hosting a panel with Ambassador Andrew Bremberg, President of the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation; The Hong Konger Associate Producer Eric Kohn; and Goldwater Executive Vice President Timothy Sandefur.

Register today for your free tickets here.