Live Now
Half-Day Conference

The State of Parental Rights, 100 Years after Pierce v. Society of Sisters

Watch the Event

Submit questions in the comment box on this page and join the conversation on social media using #CatoEvents. For event updates, follow @CatoInstitute on X. If you have questions about the event or your registration, please email events@cato.org.

Date and Time
-
Location
Cato Institute, 1000 Massachusetts Ave, NW, Washington, DC
Share This Event
Register

One hundred years ago, the US Supreme Court famously wrote, “The child is not the mere creature of the State; those who nurture him and direct his destiny have the right, coupled with the high duty, to recognize and prepare him for additional obligations.” That ruling was Pierce v. Society of Sisters, which launched the parental rights movement that has become especially ascendant, but also controversial, since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In this special conference, we will first tackle the idea of parental rights broadly, including its application in everything from health care to public school transparency. In the second panel, we will focus on the movement perhaps most influenced by Pierce: school choice. We will conclude with a lunch and keynote speaker.

Please join us to mark this very important anniversary.

Schedule

9:00 - 9:15 AM

Introduction

Neal McCluskey
Director, Center for Educational Freedom, Cato Institute

9:15 - 10:30 AM

Parental Rights: What Do They Include? Where Do They End?

James Dwyer
Professor, William and Mary Law School

Melissa Moschella
Professor, University of Notre Dame

Tiffany Justice
Cofounder, Moms for Liberty

Thomas Berry
Director, Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies, Cato Institute

Moderated by
Andrew Gillen
Research Fellow, Center for Educational Freedom, Cato Institute

10:35 - 11:50 AM

Educational Freedom: Have We Hit Escape Velocity? Is That Good?

Michael Bindas
Senior Attorney, Institute for Justice

Jon Valant
Director, Brown Center on Education Policy, Brookings Institution

Neal McCluskey
Director, Center for Educational Freedom, Cato Institute

Moderated by
Colleen Hroncich
Policy Analyst, Center for Educational Freedom, Cato Institute

12:00 - 1:30 PM

Lunch

12:45 - 1:30 PM

Rep. Virginia Foxx (R‑NC), in conversation with Jordan Brewer, Manager of Government Affairs, Cato Institute, and Neal McCluskey

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.