Parental Rights Jurisprudence: How SCOTUS Can Move Beyond Mirabelli with John Bursch, ADF

Can the U.S. Supreme Court expand and strengthen parental rights under the Constitution?

In this episode of the Napa Legal Podcast, Frank DeVito is joined by John Bursch, the Senior Counsel and Vice President of Appellate Advocacy at the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), to discuss the future of parental rights and the Supreme Court.

They examine major pending SCOTUS cases and discuss how the Court could go beyond existing precedent to more clearly protect parents’ constitutional right to direct the upbringing of their children.

Key Moments:

0:47 Introduction

3:01 Are parental rights written in the Constitution?

5:48 The current state of parental rights caselaw at the U.S. Supreme Court - Mahmoud and Mirabelli

9:38 Do public schools still secretly "socially transition" kids against parents' wishes with "parental exclusion policies"? Did Mirabelli fix the issue?

11:39 What is the emergency docket, and how is it relevant to parental rights and these cases? Noting Justice Kagan's dissent in Mirabelli.

14:54 Substantive Due Process and the history and tradition of abortion and parental rights. Noting Roe v. Wade.

16:54 A case currently pending before the Supreme Court that could strike at the merits of parental rights - Foote v. Ludlow. In this case, a public school secretly treated children like they were members of the opposite sex against the direct and explicit wishes of the children's parents. School officials tried to convince the children that their parents were not on their side or acting in their best interest.

20:55 The state of affirms of public morals, as well as the urgent need for legal protection of children from activist government overreach

26:48 Constitutional theories for unenumerated parental rights.

30:35 Changing the culture and winning public support back to morality.

35:22 Free speech and compelled pronoun usage.

36:57 How concerned and passionate citizens can help.

John Bursch is Senior Counsel and Director of Appellate Advocacy at the Alliance Defending Freedom. He has argued over a dozen US Supreme Court cases. He previously served as the solicitor general of Michigan from 2011 to 2013.

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The Napa Legal Podcast, April 14, 2026