08/21/2025
U.S. District Judge Henry Wingate has blocked parts of Mississippi’s new law banning diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in public schools, saying the measure violates free speech rights and creates confusion about what can be taught.
According to The Associated Press, the law took effect in April and sought to ban DEI programs, training, and offices in schools. It also listed “divisive concepts” tied to race, s*x, gender identity, s*xual orientation, and national origin. Schools that broke the rules risked losing state funding.
Wingate’s ruling prevents those provisions from being enforced while a lawsuit against the state continues. The injunction does not apply to sections of the law that ban preferential treatment based on race, s*x, or national origin, or those that protect students and staff from being penalized for rejecting DEI ideas.
https://blacknews.com/news/henry-wingate-white-residents-upset-after-black-judge-blocks-mississippi-ban-dei-public-schools/
Mississippi’s ban on diversity, equity and inclusion programs in public schools remains blocked after a federal judge granted the plaintiffs’ request for a preliminary injunction in an Aug. 18 decision.
A court order regarding Jackson Federation of Teachers, et. al. vs. Lynn Fitch, et. al.
Click to read the Court’s decision.
The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi also denied the defendants’ requests to dismiss the case, calling the defendants’ points “moot.”
It is unconstitutionally vague, fails to treat speech in a viewpoint-neutral manner, and carries with it serious risks of terrible consequences with respect to the chilling of expression and academic freedom,” U.S. District Court Judge Henry Wingate wrote in the Court’s decision.
https://www.mississippifreepress.org/mississippis-ban-on-diversity-programs-in-public-schools-will-remain-blocked-from-taking-effect-judge-rules/
