Overview

• U.S. District Judge R. David Proctor declined to grant a preliminary injunction and dismissed Gov. Kay Ivey as a defendant after finding plaintiffs failed to meet the high legal burden.
• SB 129, effective Oct. 1, bars public schools and colleges from funding or sponsoring any diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives and from compelling assent to eight specified divisive concepts.
• The statute expressly allows objective classroom discussion of the listed concepts without endorsement, a provision Proctor cited in ruling that the law does not amount to a total ban on instruction.
• Plaintiffs say the law has chilled academic freedom at the University of Alabama by prompting canceled assignments, reduced coverage of topics such as Black Power and Black Lives Matter, and the closure of designated student spaces.
• The case is one of several across the country challenging Republican-backed anti-DEI measures, reflecting a patchwork of mixed judicial outcomes and ongoing legal uncertainty.