No money may be used to investigate parents who protest peacefully at school board meetings
Making consolidated appropriations for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2026, and for other purposes, section 5, Sec. 5.
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No money may be used to investigate parents who protest peacefully at school board meetings
The document says “may not”Who acts: Department of JusticeHow: statuteSec. 5 in the PDF
What the document says
“None of the funds made available by this Act may be used by the Department of Justice to target or investigate parents who peacefully protest at school board meetings and are not suspected of engaging in unlawful activity.”
The whole of section 220 of the Justice title. It bars the Act's money from being used by the Justice Department to target or investigate parents who protest peacefully at school board meetings and are not suspected of unlawful activity. It leaves undefined what counts as targeting and what makes a protest peaceful.
What the document actually says
“None of the funds made available by this Act may be used by the Department of Justice to target or investigate parents who peacefully protest at school board meetings and are not suspected of engaging in unlawful activity.”
That sentence, in plain words
The Justice Department may not use this money to go after parents. That covers parents who protest calmly at school board meetings. It only holds if they are not suspected of breaking the law.
What this is about
The rule does not say what counts as going after someone. It does not say who decides if a protest was calm. Both are left open.
No action is recorded against this proposal. That is not evidence that none has been taken, and nobody has yet read it against the record. See what the tracker does not yet cover.
Commerce, Justice, Science; Energy and Water Development; and Interior and Environment Appropriations Act, 2026, Public Law 119-74, sec. 5, 140 Stat. 6 (2026). https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/PLAW-119publ74/html/PLAW-119publ74.htm
This page
“No money may be used to investigate parents who protest peacefully at school board meetings,” Commerce, Justice, Science; Energy and Water Development; and Interior and Environment Appropriations Act, 2026, section 5, Sec. 5. Read the Mandate, https://readthemandate.org/commerce-justice-science-energy-water-development/proposal/sec05-school-board-parents/ (retrieved October 10, 2026).
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