A federal judge will hear arguments Tuesday over enforcement of a new law that bans diversity, equity and inclusion programs from Mississippi public schools and universities.
A coalition of civil rights and legal organizations, on behalf of students, parents and educators, is asking U.S. District Judge Henry Wingate for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction preventing state officials from enforcing the mandate. American Civil Liberties Union of Mississippi and partner legal groups filed the lawsuit on June 9 against the state’s education boards.
House Bill 1193, which was passed after heated debate during the 2025 legislative session, prevents public schools from creating diversity, equity and inclusion offices, engaging in “divisive” concepts and hiring people based on their race, sex, color or national origin. It also enshrines in law the teaching that there are two genders — male and female.
The hearing comes after the state Board of Education and the Institutions of Higher Learning, to comply with the law, voted last week to approve policies that create a complaint and investigation process for violations. Now local school boards will have to come up with their own policies that comply with the new law.
Rob McDuff, a Mississippi Center for Justice attorney on the case, said a temporary pause would benefit both parties in the lawsuit.
“This is going to be a real pain to enforce,” he said. “We’re asking the judge to put a pause on it until we can dive into the legal issues and resolve them. I think that would be in everybody’s interest.”
McDuff said he’s concerned that the policy adopted by the state education board is going to lead to a wave of complaints, and there are still a number of issues with the law itself. For example, the civil rights attorney said, there’s no explanation of how to cure a violation in the bill, which could lead to different interpretations. And the consequences are dire — state money will be withheld from any school with two violations or more until those schools return to compliance.
While other states have adopted similar laws as part of a national anti-DEI trend, McDuff said Mississippi’s law restricts the normal classroom teacher far more than other laws he’s reviewed.
“This opens the door to ideological warfare on campuses,” he said. “How do you teach biology? How do you teach sociology or literature? Are William Faulkner’s books banned?”
Professors and school officials, including Laura Mammina, a history professor at the University of Southern Mississippi, provided written comments to education officials opposing the bill.
“As it currently stands, the policy, like the law, is a gross violation of the United States Constitution,” she wrote. “This issue will impact the quality of education in our state, and have effects on current students that may last for decades to come.”
Jackson Public Schools’ deputy superintendent Michael Cormack Jr. asked a number of questions of the state education department’s chief of advocacy and counsel, Erin Meyer, in his public comment about the new policy, including whether or not the district could still celebrate Black History Month and if one of the district’s core values, “equity,” put them out of compliance.
He also asked whether teaching about the causes of the Civil War is no longer allowed under HB 1193 and if the district’s effort to hire more male teachers was prohibited by the new law.
State Rep. Kabir Karriem, who leads the Mississippi Legislative Black Caucus, said the bill is a step backwards. His organization also submitted a comment opposing the policy.
“It’s a bad piece of legislation,” he said. “It’s unfortunate that our kids have to suffer.”
Mississippi Today reporter Candice Wilder contributed to this article.
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