LAWGORSUCH’S
RECORD
WAS MORE
‘LIBERAL’ THAN
KENNEDY’S
THIS TERM
DAMON ROOTing podcasts, watch documentaries, and
volunteer in the community.”
Greenwood took a winding path to
unschooling. Her daughters, now 17 and
12, spent time in public schools, Montes-
sori schools, and a public charter school
that offered a hybrid homeschooling
option with a state-sponsored curriculum.
Because she and her husband wanted
more autonomy and flexibility for their
kids’ learning, they began independently
homeschooling while following a classi-
cal curriculum, but they still found it too
restrictive.
Frustrated, Greenwood began reading
more about the philosophy of unschool-
ing, including pioneering books by A.S.
Neill (Summerhill), Ivan Illich (Deschool-
ing Society), and John Holt, the educator
who coined the term “unschooling” in
the late 1970s. The radically different
approach resonated with Greenwood,
who jettisoned the curriculum and fullyHERE’S A CURIOUS fact about the U.S.
Supreme Court term that concluded in
June: Trump-appointed Justice Neil
Gorsuch racked up a more “liberal” voting
record than Justice Anthony Kennedy.
Kennedy did not join the Court’s liberal
bloc in a single 5–4 decision in the entire
2017–2018 sitting. That’s unusual. In pre-
vious terms, Kennedy’s fifth vote decided
such contentious issues as gay marriage
and abortion.
Gorsuch, on the other hand, did
side with the liberal bloc in Sessions
v. Dimaya, which struck down a
provision of the Immigration
and Nationality Act dealing
with the power of the federal
government to deport any
alien, including a lawful per-
manent resident, convicted of
an “aggravated felony.”
Justice Elena
Kagan
wrote
for thethe same gold stars and check marks, the
same coercion and control inherent in
the brick-and-mortar holding pens where
so many children spend the bulk of their
early lives.
Today, homeschoolers are increasingly
ridding themselves not just of schools but
of traditional notions about schooling.
These so-called “unschoolers” allow chil-
dren to explore topics they are passionate
about, while being supported by the abun-
dant resources of both real and virtual
communities.
For California mother Heather Green-
wood, this balance means encouraging her
children’s interests while instilling values
of personal responsibility and persever-
ance. “For us, unschooling doesn’t mean
un-parenting,” Greenwood says. “Our kids
still have responsibilities in the house. We
see much of our children’s learning hap-
pening through conversation, play, and
experiences. They read, listen to interest-MANY FAMILIES LEAVE traditional educa-
tional institutions because they value
individual freedom and recognize the
ways in which compulsory mass schooling
can halt creativity and deter originality
in the name of obedience and conformity.
But too many wind up replicating the
same systems at home. They import the
same packaged curriculum and testing,
majority, joined by Justices Ruth Bader
Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, and Sonia Soto-
mayor. Gorsuch, who concurred in part
and joined in the judgment, provided the
tie-breaking fifth vote.
Thanks to Dimaya, it is now more
difficult for the federal government to
deport certain aliens under federal immi-
gration law.
Gorsuch’s views also look more liberal
than Kennedy’s when you consider their
respective approaches in Carpenter v.
United States, the blockbuster case in
which the Court held that a warrantless
government search of cellphone location
data violated the Fourth Amendment.
Technically, Kennedy and Gorsuch
both dissented from the Court’s 5–4 judg-
ment. But the content of their opinions was
entirely different.
Kennedy thought the Court should have
let the warrantless search stand. “Individu-
als have no Fourth Amendment interests
in business records which are possessed,
owned, and controlled by a third party,”
Kennedy wrote, joined by Justices Clar-
ence Thomas and Samuel Alito. Cellphone6 OCTOBER 2018 Photo: Office of Senator Luther Strange/Wikimedia
EDUCATION
DON’T
HOMESCHOOL
YOUR KIDS,
UNSCHOOL
THEM
KERRY MCDONALD