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ACLU, partners file lawsuit challenging Mississippi’s DEI ban

By Sethanie Smith Jun 9, 2025 | 3:28 PM

JACKSON, Miss. (WJTV) – A federal lawsuit had been filed against the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning (IHL), Mississippi Community College Board, Mississippi State Board of Education, and the Mississippi Charter School Authorizer Board.

The lawsuit, filed by ACLU of Mississippi, Mississippi Center for Justice, Badat Legal and Quinn, Connor, Weaver, Davies & Rouco LLP, the challenges the constitutionality of House Bill 1193 of the 2025 legislative session.

According to the complaint, House Bill 1193 violates the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution by imposing the state government’s preferred views on matters of public concern – like race, gender and sexuality – on students, educators and families across Mississippi and censoring contrary views. The complaint also alleges that some of the provisions of the law are vague and contradictory that students and educators do not know what they can and cannot do at school.

“Members of the Mississippi Legislature may very well be incapable of having productive discussions on race, gender, or our state’s history. That doesn’t mean our educators and students aren’t up to handling difficult conversations,” said Jarvis Dortch, executive director of the ACLU of Mississippi. “The First Amendment protects the right to share ideas, including teachers’ and students’ right to receive and exchange knowledge. Open and honest dialogue benefits all students and, if given a try, it would benefit the Mississippi Legislature.”

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Plaintiffs allege that the law, which was passed to eliminate diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), would ban teachers and students from discussing slavery, the Civil War, various forms of discrimination in the past and present, the civil rights movement, the women’s suffrage and women’s rights movements and the LGBTQ rights movement.

Plaintiffs asked the federal court in Jackson find various provisions of the law to be unconstitutional in violation of the First and Fourteenth Amendment rights of the plaintiffs and to issue a preliminary injunction to prevent the law from being enforced, followed later by a permanent injunction.