In March 2025, State Superintendent Ryan Walters and the Oklahoma State Department of Education (OSDE) filed a “SLAPP” suit against FFRF. This appeared to be in response to letters FFRF sent to public schools in Oklahoma objecting to school-sponsored religious activities. A Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation (SLAPP) is used to weaponize the legal system to punish and silence constitutionally protected speech.
FFRF filed a motion to dismiss this lawsuit for a lack of standing, failure to demonstrate subject matter jurisdiction, filing a frivolous lawsuit targeting First Amendment protected expression, and failure to state a claim. This motion also requests that the court impose sanctions on OSDE and Ryan Walters.
The District Court granted FFRF’s motion to dismiss on August 13, 2025 and the State of Oklahoma did not appeal the ruling.
FFRF was represented by the American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Oklahoma. This case was in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma with case number 6:25-cv-00094.
