A student sued the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and lost the case. The student claimed that the USDA had prevented her from freely criticizing the National School Lunch Program, which includes milk consumption, thereby violating her First Amendment rights.
In a judgment on Saturday (November 30th), Judge Fernando Olguin in the Los Angeles area stated that Marielle Williamson was not eligible to sue the USDA regarding the so-called “prior restraint system” at Eagle Rock High School in California. Furthermore, since she had already graduated, her lawsuit had no practical significance.
This lawsuit originated from school administrators informing 17-year-old senior student Williamson that she could not distribute materials criticizing dairy products and the dairy industry unless she also distributed materials promoting the advantages of dairy products.
Williamson, a vegetarian, along with the non-profit organization Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, filed a lawsuit against the USDA and the Los Angeles Unified School District in May 2023.
Although the two parties reached a settlement in November 2023, Williamson brought a new lawsuit, arguing that the USDA’s prohibition on schools restricting the sale or marketing of milk was unconstitutional, and enforcing that provision violated her freedom of speech.
However, the judge found that there was no evidence showing that the USDA had threatened to suppress Williamson’s speech or that the law authorizing the lunch program established a mechanism for penalizing students.
The judge wrote, “Allegations based solely on subjective beliefs are not sufficient to supplant those based on current specific objective harm or potential future harm.”
Williamson is currently a sophomore at Duke University and studying in China.
Deborah Press, Deputy General Counsel of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, stated on Monday that the organization would evaluate how to proceed with litigation based on the judgment.
She said, “The issue remains that thousands of students rely on school meals and need alternatives to milk, and Marielle’s lawsuit has brought this conversation to a national level.”
In a settlement agreement in November 2023, the Los Angeles school district acknowledged students’ right to criticize dairy products and pledged to support providing students with free soy milk.
(This article was referenced from a report by Reuters)