BUZZ
Appeal comes after federal judge ruled the law ‘expressly permits classroom’ discussions
A group of University of Alabama students and professors filed an appeal Monday in a federal lawsuit that seeks to overturn a ban on diversity, equity, and inclusion programs in public education.
They argue that the state law, which passed in 2024, has led to “discriminatory campus censorship,” AL.com reports.
The law prohibits public K-12 schools and state universities from compelling a student or employee to affirm or adhere to a “divisive concept” such as white privilege, or to participate in mandatory DEI training.
The appeal, submitted to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, argues that a federal judge erred in his August decision allowing the state to enforce the law.
Antonio Ingram, senior counsel with the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, told AL.com that the plaintiffs hope the appeals court will restore “the freedom to learn back to the University of Alabama system.”
“Students and professors at the University of Alabama are currently subject to censorship in their academic and extracurricular life on campus because of SB 129,” Ingram said.
According to the appeal, “The student plaintiffs contend that the court overlooked key facts and applied the law incorrectly when it concluded they had not been sufficiently harmed by SB 129 or that it lacked authority to remedy their constitutional violations.”
A professor told the Associated Press the law has forced her to change what she teaches:
Dana Patton, a plaintiff who teaches political science at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, said in an interview that the state law led her to change curriculum that she has taught for decades.
“We feel very constrained by the vagueness of the law,” Patton said, since some students might misinterpret a lesson for endorsement of a certain viewpoint.
Last year, five students complained that Patton’s curriculum for the interdisciplinary honors program she administers is in conflict with the law. Patton insists that she has always taken measures to ensure a wide array of view points are represented — but that hasn’t assuaged her fears. She has since taken some material off of her syllabus.
However, U.S. District Judge David Proctor disagreed with the censorship claims, The College Fix reported at the time.
In his August ruling, Proctor wrote the law “expressly permits classroom instruction that includes ‘discussion’ of the listed concepts so long as the ‘instruction is given in an objective manner without endorsement’ of the concepts.”
Addressing concerns about the law being too vague, Proctor wrote that a “person of common intelligence” can understand terms such as “objective manner” and “compel assent” as the law describes them, the Alabama Reflector reported, previously.
He also wrote that disciplinary measures only apply to those who “knowingly” violate the law.
Earlier this year, AL.com reported that the “lawsuit claims the three UA professors who are plaintiffs have either specifically received threats of discipline from university administrators for alleged noncompliance with SB 129 if they do not alter their curriculum to avoid certain viewpoints and/or fear that they will be accused of violating SB 129 if they do not alter their curriculum to excise certain viewpoints.”
The professors also allege that they “cancelled class projects, changed curriculum, and elected not to teach certain classes as a result of SB 129,” according to the report.
MORE: Report details rampant DEI at Auburn, University of Alabama
