❓WHAT HAPPENED: A federal judge issued a temporary restraining order against a Mississippi law banning diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) from public schools and universities.
👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: U.S. District Court Judge Henry Wingate, the Mississippi Association of Educators, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), and the Mississippi Center for Justice.
📍WHEN & WHERE: The restraining order was issued on Sunday, pausing the law’s implementation for at least 14 days. The law, House Bill 1193, took effect on July 1 in Mississippi.
💬KEY QUOTE: “Suppressing constitutional speech through vague prohibitions and the specter of financial retribution does not serve the public good—it undermines it,” Judge Wingate claimed.
🎯IMPACT: The law’s enforcement is paused, and institutions are temporarily shielded from penalties tied to its provisions while further hearings are scheduled.
U.S. District Court Judge Henry Wingate, appointed by Ronald Reagan, issued a temporary restraining order on Sunday against a Mississippi law that bans diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs from public schools and universities. The law, House Bill 1193, had taken effect on July 1 after being approved in April. The 78-year-old judge’s order halts its implementation for at least 14 days.
The plaintiffs and their representatives include the Mississippi Association of Educators, American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), and Mississippi Center for Justice—a Democrat-aligned lawfare group funded by George Soros’s Open Society Foundations and grants from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). They argued that the law’s allegedly vague language and punitive measures, such as the withdrawal of state funding, created a chilling effect on constitutionally protected speech. Judge Wingate agreed, citing examples of how the law had already impacted faculty and institutions.
“Suppressing constitutional speech through vague prohibitions and the specter of financial retribution does not serve the public good—it undermines it,” the federal judge wrote in his order, adding: “An over-broad, constitutionally borderless law should be the target of a well-aimed injunction to promote, rather than impair, the interests of Mississippi citizens, the integrity of its institutions, and the constitutional principles on which this republic stands.”
The Mississippi law prohibits DEI offices, programs, and trainings, as well as courses promoting so-called “divisive concepts,” including the idea that one race or sex is superior to another. It also bans concepts tied to transgender ideology, gender-neutral pronouns, and related topics. Institutions found in violation risk losing state funding or facing other penalties.
Judge Wingate highlighted affidavits from school officials that described partnerships and programs being abruptly canceled due to fear of violating the law. Wingate concluded that the evidence showed a “clear and ongoing deprivation of constitutional rights” and warranted injunctive relief. A hearing is scheduled for Wednesday to determine whether to extend the restraining order further.
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