Can public schools shut down pro-life students?

In this episode of the Napa Legal Podcast, Joseph Clement is joined by Mathew Hoffmann, legal counsel at the Alliance Defending Freedom. They discuss free speech law in public schools and related case that is currently pending before the US Supreme Court. In E.D. v. Noblesville School District, a student pro-life organization was shut down after posting flyers advertising its first event. The students argue that the school's censorship violates their First Amendment right to Free Speech.

Key Moments:

0:41 Introduction

2:45 The facts in this case: pro-life student was censored by public school administrators

8:45 Current laws on free speech in public schools - Hazelwood and Tinker

15:40 How courts apply school laws - are students protected or at risk of losing their rights?

17:17 Lemon and the reasonable observer test

21:07 Free Speech vs. Free Exercise claims in public schools

24:45 What could this case impact? What does a win look like?

26:55 The balance of protecting curriculum and protecting free speech

30:07 School speech in the lower courts

32:07 Are there laws that can protect student speech? Are there legislative solutions?

37:21 Should everyone care about free speech in public schools?

Mathew Hoffmann serves as legal counsel on the Appellate Advocacy Team at Alliance Defending Freedom, where he represents ADF clients before state and federal appellate courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court. Previously, he served in ADF’s Center for Free Speech and Center for Academic Freedom. He has represented clients in free expression cases across the country and has argued before the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Seventh and Ninth Circuits and the Alabama Supreme Court.

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The Napa Legal Podcast, March 27, 2026