U.S. District Judge Henry Wingate smiles on Aug. 19, 2022, in Jackson, Miss. Wingate ruled Thursday, June 1, 2023, that the Mississippi chief justice cannot be a defendant in a lawsuit that challenges a state law dealing with appointed judges. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis, File)
- Lawmakers passed the law this year to prevent K-12 school and public higher learning institutions from using DEI practices in their employment and academic decision-making.
An indefinite injunction was placed on Mississippi’s anti-DEI law passed during this year’s legislative session on Monday by U.S. District Judge Henry Wingate.
The injunction will prevent the law from being enforced until a final ruling is handed down.
The decision comes as part of a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Mississippi and the Mississippi Center for Justice in June, which claimed the provisions in HB 1193 were 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.
However, parts of the bill had educators concerned, namely Section 3 (f) of the bill. It states each institution, public school or college will not, “Maintain any programs, including academic programs or courses, or offices that promote diversity, equity and inclusion, endorse divisive concepts or concepts promoting transgender ideology, gender-neutral pronouns, deconstruction of heteronormativity, gender theory, sexual privilege or any related formulation of these concepts.”
Prior to the court’s decision, at least three public institutions – Jackson State University, Alcorn State University and Hinds Community College – discontinued DEI initiatives and programming on their campuses, plaintiffs stated in previous orders.
On Monday, Judge Wingate made the decision that HB 1193 was “at odds with the First Amendment” and that enforcement of the regulations in 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,” Monday’s court order reads.
As previously reported, Joshua Tom, Legal Director for the ACLU of Mississippi, said the case is significant because state or federal governments are constitutionally prohibited from being able to impose their preferred viewpoints on the public, including as they relate to education.
“It should not be able to censor opposing viewpoints,” Tom elaborated. “And that is part of why the plaintiffs in this case have sued Mississippi to get it stopped.”
You can read Judge Wingate’s order below.
