A federal court temporarily blocked Mississippi from enforcing a law against diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) practices in educational institutions.
The order was issued on July 20 by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi, Northern Division.
Mississippi’s House Bill 1193 became effective on April 17. The law prohibits DEI activities in public schools and public postsecondary educational institutions. It bans the establishment of DEI offices, engagement in divisive concepts, consideration of diversity statements from job applicants as part of hiring, and maintenance of academic programs promoting ideologies such as DEI and transgenderism.
On June 9, a coalition of plaintiffs, including the Mississippi Association of Educators, sued state boards over the implementation of HB 1193. They argued that the law contained “viewpoint-based and content-based restrictions.”
The bill violates the First and 14th amendments rights of educators and students, the complaint said.
On July 20, the federal court sided with the plaintiffs by granting a request for a temporary restraining order (TRO), which directs the state of Mississippi and defendants in the case from enforcing provisions of HB 1193 pending further court order.
The TRO will remain in effect until the court issues a ruling on the plaintiffs’ request for a permanent injunction. A hearing on the injunction has been scheduled for July 23.
In an earlier motion filed with the court on June 23, state officials had asked the court to dismiss the lawsuit, arguing that the complaint is “barred by Eleventh Amendment sovereign immunity.”
The defendants in the case are the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning, the Mississippi Community College Board, the Mississippi State Board of Education, and the Mississippi Charter School Authorizer Board.
All defendants are state boards that are “arms” of the state of Mississippi, according to the motion, which said, “It is well settled that the State’s Eleventh Amendment sovereign immunity extends to any state agency or entity deemed an ‘arm’ of the State.”
On Jan. 21, President Donald Trump signed an executive action “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity.” According to the order, any school that doesn’t end its DEI programs will lose federal funding.
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