LM May 2025

Legal Corner

Chad Watkins IASA Associate Director/General Counsel

To help school leaders navigate uncertain times, IASA has partnered with leading law firms throughout Illinois to provide districts with critical guidance during the 2024–25 school year. In Leadership Matters, the IASA Legal Corner will showcase an article written by attorneys who specialize in legal matters related to education. It is our hope you find the content insightful,

timely and helpful in addressing the critical matters you face. This issue, attorneys from Robbins Schwartz share their insights on “First Amendment Audits.” As a reminder, IASA Legal Corner articles are provided for informational purposes only, and you are advised to contact your district counsel for legal advice. Click on the link below to access the article.

“First Amendment Audits” Test Boundaries at Public Institutions

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Public institutions have seen a recent uptick in “First Amendment audits,” where a private citizen will enter public spaces while recording video on their cell phone and typically demand documents under the Illinois Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”). The “auditors” also often demand that public employees identify themselves while refusing to identify themselves (which they are not required to do), and they sometimes engage in more confrontational behavior while recording employees’ responses. They often later upload videos of interactions to social media websites, such as YouTube, which may generate additional records requests or complaints to the institution. Generally, these activities are protected by the First Amendment, as well as FOIA, unless the visitor becomes physically violent or unreasonably disruptive to an employee’s ability to serve others. However, visitors must comply with reasonable, pre-established security procedures, and they are not entitled to film without permission in private spaces, such as a private office, conference room, or any classroom. These visitors frequently request documents to verify whether

the institution will comply with various requirements under FOIA, including some requirements separate from more routine processes for responding to FOIA requests.

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