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- The new law was aimed at preventing public K-12 and higher learning institutions from using DEI practices in their employment and academic decision-making.
Mississippi’s Attorney General has appealed an injunction issued by U.S. District Judge Henry Wingate on the state’s enforcement of the anti-DEI law related to public schools and universities.
The filing was made Tuesday appealing the “entirety” of the judge’s order, which was submitted by Judge Wingate in August.
READ MORE: Enforcement of anti-DEI law blocked indefinitely by federal judge
Court documents in relation to his injunction stated the reason for the decision was that HB 1193 was unconstitutional.
The new law, as it was described by lawmakers, prevents public K-12 and higher education institutions from utilizing diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) practices when making decisions concerning school employment, academic opportunities, and student engagement. Such decisions are to be based on an individual’s merit and qualifications rather than a person’s race, color, sexual orientation, or gender. The law passed through both bodies in the State Capitol and then received the governor’s signature in April.
Wingate’s injunction and the subsequent appeal it has drawn are in relation to a lawsuit filed in June by the American Civil Liberties Union ACLU) of Mississippi and the Mississippi Center for Justice over the legality of the law. Plaintiffs in the suit have stated the new law had already led to the discontinuation of DEI initiatives and programming on the campuses of Jackson State University, Alcorn State University and Hinds Community College.
In August, Judge Wingate issued the injunction because he believed that HB 1193 was “at odds with the First Amendment.” The injunction stated that due to that fact, enforcement of the law would “cause irreparable injury to the named plaintiffs and the classes they represent.”
“As such, class-wide and statewide, this Court hereby grants the challengers’ request for, and so orders, a preliminary injunction, by which the defendants are enjoined from enforcing select sections of HB 1193, pending the final resolution of this matter,” Wingate’s injunction order stated.
The injunction will remain in place until the court comes to a final decision at a later unannounced date, or if Fitch’s appeal is successful when heard by a three-judge panel on the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
No word has come as to when the judicial panel may take up the state’s appeal.
