JACKSON, Miss. — Parts of Mississippi’s ban on diversity, equity and inclusion practices in public schools can take effect after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit vacated a lower-court ruling that had blocked them, the Associated Press reported.
The provisions bar public schools from requiring diversity training or keeping DEI-related programs, courses and offices, and prohibit discussion of a list of “divisive concepts” involving race, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, ethnicity and national origin. Schools that violate the law could lose state funding.
The 2025 law is being challenged by educators, students, parents and activists who say it violates the First and Fourteenth Amendments. Their attorney said they have several weeks to seek a rehearing, and the law would take effect seven days after that deadline passes or a petition is denied.
In Thursday’s ruling, the appeals court also ordered the case moved to a different district judge, criticizing a temporary restraining order by U.S. District Judge Henry Wingate that it said contained artificial intelligence “hallucinations.”
Sources: Associated Press via KTAR News. Thee Arizona Times uses AI-assisted reporting reviewed against the sources listed.
Photo: Kaotate / CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons.
