In 2022, Helen Levinson, Vice President of “Awake Illinois” and the Chapter Chair of “Moms for Liberty” for Cook County, was sued by school teacher Jasmine Sebaggala for defamation and the intentional cause of emotional distress.
The case was dismissed and Sebaggala has been ordered to pay Levinson’s legal fees.
The Sebaggala’s lawsuit asserted, “Levinson wanted to damage Sebaggala’s career for the sole reason that Sebaggala is a Black teacher who supports Black Lives Matter.”
Read the absurd complaint here.
In May of 2023, the case was dismissed, and on December 14, Cook County Judge Daniel Kubasiak ordered Sebaggala to pay Levinson’s $38,000 in legal fees.
Sebaggala is a member of “The Abolition Coalition” (AC), whose mission is to “abolish anti-blackness and white supremacy that saturate the essential systems of well-being and wealth in our community.”
Sebaggala earned a reputation for coming to Levinson’s school district despite not living or teaching in that district and aggressively protesting for her extremely progressive agenda.
Levinson penned a fourteen-page letter to Sebaggala’s school district outlining her disruptive and inappropriate behaviors.
One example she shared in the letter was Sebaggala’s appearance at a May 2021 school board meeting, where she allegedly said that “white nationalists are recruiting children in our community.”
Further, Levinson alleges that members of school board meetings required security to escort them to their cars in light of a riot almost breaking out when the board did not “vote in favor of Ms. Sebaggala to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of James Specker.”
Sebaggala’s lawsuit claimed Levinson was a “white supremacist and alt-right provocateur” and that her letter was “filled with false allegations.”
America First Legal (AFL) joined as co-counsel to defend Levinson against the abusive and sham lawsuit.
AFL shared news of the case dismissal in May 2023 saying, “Today, working with our outside co-counsel, Sorin Leahu, America First Legal (AFL) helped secure a victory when the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois, dismissed a frivolous lawsuit against Helen Levinson, a mother of two, born to a family of Christian Arab immigrants from Jordan and raised in Chicago, who stood up against a school teacher for promoting highly-racialized and progressive viewpoints in her school district.”
“Yesterday, the court granted the motion to dismiss the lawsuit with prejudice–effectively determining the claims to be null, and she cannot file another lawsuit. Levinson was subjected to an abuse of the legal system that sought to harass and intimidate her to stay silent on important issues; we are proud to bring her peace in light of this vicious attack that she endured. This historic victory protects her and other parents across the country who are concerned about the highly-racialized and highly-sexualized agenda infiltrating American academia and their right to speak out against it.”
Nicholas Barry, America First Legal Senior Counsel, said, “Americans don’t lose their First Amendment rights when they become parents. We each have a voice, and we should be able to speak freely without the threat of frivolous litigation chilling our speech. Members of the bar have a special obligation to ensure that they do not use the legal system to threaten and intimidate Americans from exercising their rights. AFL is proud to have participated in this important case, and we look forward to continuing to fight for parents’ and their rights in the future.”
You can read the dismissal order here.
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