A federal judge in Maryland on Friday temporarily blocked Donald Trump from implementing bans on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs at federal agencies and by businesses that contract with the federal government.
US district judge Adam Abelson said the directives by Trump and an order urging the Department of Justice to investigate companies with DEI policies likely violate the first amendment of the US constitution.
“The White House and attorney general have made clear, through their ongoing implementation of various aspects of the J21 order, that viewpoints and speech considered to be in favor of or supportive of DEI or [diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility] are viewpoints the government wishes to punish and, apparently, attempt to extinguish,” Abelson wrote in one widely shared passage.
“The supreme court has made clear time and time again, the government cannot rely on the ‘threat of invoking legal sanctions and other means of coercion’ to suppress disfavored speech.”
Abelson blocked Trump and several federal agencies from implementing the orders pending the outcome of a lawsuit by the city of Baltimore and three groups.
“As plaintiffs put it, ‘efforts to foster inclusion have been widespread and uncontroversially legal for decades’,” Abelson wrote. “Plaintiffs’ irreparable harms include widespread chilling of unquestionably protected speech.”
Reuters contributed reporting
