Judge’s order confirms 20K payment, public apology in ‘illegal alien’ case

A federal judge signed an order Tuesday officially settling the legal dispute between the Davidson County school board and a former student suspended over his use of the words “illegal alien” in class.

US District Judge Thomas Schroeder’s order confirmed that the settlement includes a public apology to Christian McGhee and a $20,000 payment to his family.

Schroeder had announced in court on July 1 that he had accepted terms of the settlement for McGhee, identified as C.M. in court records.

“The proposed revised settlement agreement provides C.M. a  public apology from the Davidson County Board of Education for a ‘mischaracterization of racial bias arising from [C.M.]’s comments,’ correction of C.M.’s school records, the Board’s ‘acknowledge[ment] [of] the inappropriate response to this matter by a former member,’ and monetary compensation of $20,000,” Schroeder wrote. “In exchange, Plaintiff has agreed to release any and all claims against the Defendants, and the parties have agreed to pay their own attorneys’ fees and costs.”

“Although the parties initially moved to seal the revised settlement agreement, they have since withdrawn any request to seal any version of their settlement,” Schroeder explained.

Schroeder agreed with McGhee’s parents that the settlement “is fair, reasonable, and in the best interests” of their son, the judge wrote.

McGhee was suspended in April 2024 after referencing “illegal aliens” during a high school class discussion. According to the Liberty Justice Center, which represented the McGhee family, Christian asked during an English class, “Do you mean space aliens or illegal aliens who need green cards?”

The school suspended him for three days and added a note of “racially insensitive behavior” to his record. The Liberty Justice Center filed a federal lawsuit, arguing the school’s actions violated McGhee’s First Amendment rights.

Dean McGee, senior counsel and director of educational freedom at the Liberty Justice Center, called the court’s approval “a critical step towards finally vindicating Christian’s constitutional rights and clearing his record of false allegations.”

Christian’s mother, Leah McGhee, told Carolina Journal earlier this month that the ordeal forced the family into a crash course on student rights.

“It’s really opened our entire family’s eyes to the fact that students aren’t really being taught their rights,” she said. “Our son learned more about his constitutional rights through Dean McGee than he ever learned from any of his teachers in high school.”

She described the case as transformative for Christian. In the weeks that followed his suspension, the media attention caught the eye of the White House. Christian received a personal letter of recommendation from President Donald Trump. Christian was also recently invited by the Faith and Freedom Foundation to tour Capitol Hill and learn more about his individual rights. Whether that has sparked his interest in activism or politics, his mother said he’s spoken of it, but time will tell.

“He did see a very kind of dark side, you know, standing on the right side of justice,” she said. “I would do everything in my power to support him, but my own private prayers I pray that that is not something he is called to right now, but I’m supportive of whatever he dreams of doing. It was it was a blessing, all of the good that’s come out of this, there’s been so much more good than there has been bad.”

As the family prepared to celebrate America’s Independence Day, the importance of their battle is not lost on the McGhees.

“Christian has learned and grown in this experience… his grandfather actually fought on the United States Intrepid in World War II… my husband was sitting there talking to him, explaining that Christian is fighting for the same rights that his great grandfather had fought for.”

“He’s really learned about how wonderful and blessed he is to be an American child,” she added.

While the legal process brought closure, Leah McGhee remains skeptical about institutional accountability.

“My hope would be yes, but to tell you the truth, I do not have much faith in the Davidson County school system,” she said.

She noted that true accountability came at the voting booth as the community rallied to Christian’s side.

“Collectively, as a community, we voted out three of those [school board] members,” she said. “That was a huge win for Davidson County in general, getting those toxic people out of office and replacing them with people who truly do care about the students in this town.”

Leah also pointed to real policy change resulting from their efforts. In the 2023-24 legislative session, both chambers passed House Bill 207, Discipline Changes, that would allow students to appeal short-term suspensions.

Still, she said the case should be a signal to others. Her hope is that Christian’s experience reminds families that constitutional rights don’t end at the schoolhouse gate.

“For people to see that you can win, you can fight back and you can win with the support of attorneys and law firms like Liberty Justice. … They did every single bit of this with zero price tag attached.”

The post Judge’s order confirms 20K payment, public apology in ‘illegal alien’ case first appeared on Carolina Journal.

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