{"id":2598503,"date":"2026-05-04T12:12:01","date_gmt":"2026-05-04T16:12:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/illinois-teacher-drops-lawsuit-against-christian-mother-after-yearslong-free-speech-battle\/"},"modified":"2026-05-04T12:19:15","modified_gmt":"2026-05-04T16:19:15","slug":"illinois-teacher-drops-lawsuit-against-christian-mother-after-yearslong-free-speech-battle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/illinois-teacher-drops-lawsuit-against-christian-mother-after-yearslong-free-speech-battle\/","title":{"rendered":"Illinois teacher drops lawsuit against Christian mother after yearslong free speech battle"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fillinois-teacher-drops-lawsuit-against-christian-mother-after-yearslong-free-speech-battle%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2598503&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>helen Levinson, a Chicago-area parent, won a decisive legal outcome after being sued over a complaint she sent to her school district criticizing a teacher. A judge dismissed the teacher\u2019s case with prejudice, stopping it from being refiled.<\/p>\n<p>The dispute began after Levinson-who is also associated with Moms for Liberty in cook County-raised concerns in 2021 about an assistant principal\/teacher (Jasmine Sebaggala) and her conduct, including comments and advocacy connected to equity and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/nfl-closes-season-with-inspire-change-ad-football-is-over-but-systemic-racism-goes-on\/\" title=\"NFL Closes Season With \u2018Inspire Change\u2019 Ad: Football Is Over But \u2018Systemic Racism\u2019 Goes On\">anti-racism efforts<\/a>. Sebaggala sued Levinson for defamation and invasion-of-privacy, arguing Levinson falsely accused her of wrongdoing. Levinson and her attorneys (America First legal) argued the lawsuit was a SLAPP-style attempt to punish protected parental speech and deter public participation in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/the-lucrative-business-of-woke-education\/\" title=\"The Lucrative Business of Woke Education\">school governance<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Courts sided with Levinson multiple times during the litigation,including under Illinois\u2019s anti-SLAPP law,which led to dismissal of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/columnist-rips-jon-stewart-for-saying-he-believes-covid-19-originated-in-chinese-lab\/\" title=\"Columnist Rips Jon Stewart For Saying He Believes COVID-19 Originated In Chinese Lab\">earlier versions<\/a> of the complaint and an award of legal fees. the teacher ultimately withdrew the remaining claims just as finding was about to begin, which resulted in the final dismissal with prejudice.<\/p>\n<p>Levinson said the result vindicates her right to speak as a parent and highlighted the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/court-enforces-orwellian-order-against-outspoken-jordan-peterson\/\" title=\"Court enforces order against outspoken Jordan Peterson.\">potential chilling effect<\/a> such lawsuits can have, even on supporters who privately agree but fear retaliation.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<article class=\"fn-body\">\n<p><strong>EXCLUSIVE \u2014<\/strong> An <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/illinois\/\">Illinois<\/a> mother who was sued after criticizing a teacher in her <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >local school district secured<\/a> a decisive legal victory this week, with a <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/judges\/\">judge<\/a> dismissing the case against her with prejudice and barring a teacher who brought the lawsuit from ever refiling her claims.<\/p>\n<p>Helen Levinson, a <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/chicago\/\">Chicago<\/a>-area parent of two children, spent nearly five years fighting defamation and invasion-of-privacy allegations after she sent a complaint letter to her school district raising concerns about an educator\u2019s conduct at board meetings and on <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/social-media\/\">social media<\/a>. The case ended abruptly last week as it entered the discovery phase, when the plaintiff, Lincolnwood Elementary School assistant principal Jasmine Sebaggala, moved to drop the lawsuit permanently rather than proceed.<\/p>\n<section class=\"explore-more-section\" id=\"wex-recommended-widget\">\n<div class=\"magazine-container single\">\n<h1 class=\"magazine-title mt-2\">Recommended Stories<\/h1>\n<p>             <i class=\"fa-solid fa-play icon\"><\/i>         <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-grid\">\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/education\/4552125\/loudoun-county-year-round-school-calendar-holidays\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>Loudoun County contemplates year-round school calendar instead of cutting \u2018inclusive\u2019 holidays<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/education\/4551573\/chicago-teachers-union-organize-student-may-day-protest\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>Chicago teachers unions organize students for socialist May Day protests<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/finance-and-economy\/4551387\/scott-bessent-financial-literacy-front-and-center-trump-admin\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>Scott Bessent puts financial literacy front and center in Trump administration<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p>For Levinson, a Christian Arab immigrant from Jordan and founder of <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/moms-for-liberty\/\">Moms for Liberty<\/a>\u2018s Cook County chapter, the outcome amounts to a full vindication and a signal to other parents that speaking out on school issues is protected activity.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>\u201cThis was about my right to speak as a parent,\u201d Levinson, who lives in Skokie, Illinois, told the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em>. \u201cIf I didn\u2019t have the support, it would have been very hard to get through.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Levinson first became involved in local school debates in 2021, when she began hearing complaints from other parents about curriculum decisions over <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/dei\">diversity, equity, and inclusion<\/a> and anti-racist ideologies filtering into classrooms. She submitted a 14-page letter outlining her concerns about the conduct of Sebaggala, a fourth-grade public school teacher who is active in local equity and anti-racism advocacy with a group called Abolition Coalition. Within weeks, Levinson was named in a defamation suit for \u201cfalsely accus[ing] Sebaggala of falsifying racist events.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The legal fight quickly expanded beyond a local dispute. Supporters of Sebaggala at one point started a <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gofundme.com\/f\/support-black-il-teacher-targeted-by-moms4liberty\">GoFundMe campaign<\/a> that raised more than $44,000 for her legal defense, framing the case as part of a broader clash over education policy. The fundraiser described Sebaggala as a \u201cBlack educator\u201d and \u201cequity advocate\u201d under attack by Moms for Liberty, which it characterized as a \u201chate group,\u201d and argued the lawsuit was necessary to protect teachers from what it called \u201cextremist\u201d efforts to undermine diversity initiatives in schools.<\/p>\n<p>Levinson\u2019s attorneys at America First Legal argued the opposite, that the lawsuit itself was an attempt to punish a parent for engaging in protected speech. They characterized it as a strategic lawsuit against public participation, or SLAPP suit, designed to deter criticism through prolonged and costly litigation.<\/p>\n<p>Legal filings revealed a long stint of racial justice advocacy that Sebaggala engaged in, which was also the subject of her and Levinson\u2019s online verbal spats. Records show the teacher attended several protests between 2020 and 2021, including at a June 8, 2021, \u201cProtest and Anti-Racist Celebration\u201d that was in part <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/reason.com\/volokh\/2025\/06\/24\/illinois-court-dismisses-defamation-suit-based-on-allegations-that-plaintiff-teacher-was-anti-white-etc\/\">opposing police officers<\/a> in schools.<\/p>\n<p>Courts repeatedly sided with Levinson. A trial court <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/aflegal.org\/press-release\/america-first-legal-secures-landmark-legal-victory-court-dismisses-lawsuit-against-mom-who-stood-up-against-woke-school-district\/\">dismissed earlier versions of the complaint<\/a> in May 2023 and awarded her roughly <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/evanstonroundtable.com\/2024\/02\/04\/d65-official-ordered-to-pay-legal-fees-after-her-lawsuit-against-a-skokie-mom-is-dismissed\/\">$38,000 in legal fees<\/a> in February 2024 under Illinois\u2019s anti-SLAPP law. Although an appellate court allowed a narrow defamation claim to move forward, the case never reached trial.<\/p>\n<p>Instead, Sebaggala withdrew the lawsuit last week, resulting in its dismissal with prejudice just as discovery was set to begin, a stage that would have required both sides to hand over evidence under oath.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s a reason this case ended when it did,\u201d said Nick Barry, an attorney for <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/america-first-legal\/\">America First Legal<\/a> who is representing Levinson. \u201cOnce it became clear the claims would have to be backed up with actual evidence, the plaintiff chose to walk away.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Sebaggala\u2019s lawyers cited personal health concerns in court as the reason for dismissing the case. But Barry said that explanation did not fully account for the timing, noting that courts routinely pause cases for medical issues rather than terminate them entirely.<\/p>\n<p>For Levinson, the outcome underscores both the personal cost of the legal fight and the broader stakes for parents engaged in school governance debates. She said many parents privately supported her but were unwilling to speak publicly out of fear of retaliation.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe get messages all the time from people who say they agree but don\u2019t want to put themselves out there,\u201d she said. \u201cThat tells you everything.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Levinson\u2019s attorneys say the case highlights a broader pattern in which litigation is used to discourage public participation, even if the claims ultimately fail.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/education\/4551573\/chicago-teachers-union-organize-student-may-day-protest\/\">CHICAGO TEACHERS UNIONS ORGANIZE STUDENTS FOR SOCIALIST MAY DAY PROTESTS<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The dispute unfolded against a national backdrop of contentious school board battles over curriculum, diversity initiatives, and gender-related policies, where both sides increasingly frame the stakes in stark ideological terms.<\/p>\n<p>It also comes as the <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/department-of-justice\/\">Justice Department<\/a> under President <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/donald-trump\/\">Donald Trump<\/a> <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/opa\/pr\/justice-department-launches-investigations-concerning-gender-ideology-pre-k-12-schools-36\">opened an investigation<\/a> into 36 Illinois school districts to determine \u201cwhether they have included sexual orientation and gender ideology\u201d content in any classes for grades pre-K to 12, a subject that Levinson also said has been a pervasive issue related to her advocacy in Illinois.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Illinois mother Helen Levinson wins case; judge dismisses SLAPP with prejudice<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2633,"featured_media":2598504,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/iStock-1331959271-e1777910824350.jpg?w=696","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[5695,32311,6413,4585,4698],"class_list":["post-2598503","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-christianity","tag-free-speech","tag-illinois","tag-lawsuit","tag-teacher"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/iStock-1331959271-e1777910824350.jpg?w=696","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2598503","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2633"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2598503"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2598503\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2598512,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2598503\/revisions\/2598512"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2598504"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2598503"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2598503"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2598503"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}