Overview
- U.S. District Judge Rita F. Lin issued a preliminary injunction barring immediate funding cuts, fines or payout demands against the University of California system.
- The order prohibits a blanket denial of future grants to UCLA and blocks tying federal dollars to viewpoint-based requirements under civil-rights investigations.
- The ruling follows federal freezes of roughly $584 million in UCLA research awards and a $1.2 billion payment demand linked to conditions on gender identity, speech and screening of foreign students.
- The case was brought by more than a dozen UC faculty and staff unions alleging coercive, retaliatory conduct that chilled teaching and research; the UC system is not a plaintiff and remains in settlement talks.
- The injunction is temporary and the government could appeal to the Ninth Circuit, as broader litigation continues alongside earlier settlements with other schools, including Brown ($50 million) and Columbia ($221 million).