Dive Brief:
- A history professor in California won a federal court ruling Friday that temporarily blocks local community college officials from enforcing diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility regulations against him over his scholarship or classroom instruction.
- Daymon Johnson, who works at Bakersfield College, is challenging California regulations stating that faculty members should employ teaching practices that reflect DEIA principles. He alleged these regulations violate his First Amendment rights by potentially forcing him to express viewpoints that he disagrees with.
- U.S. District Judge Kirk Sherriff agreed, writing that Johnson “credibly identified specific speech that he reasonably fears would be proscribed by the DEIA regulations.” However, Sheriff declined to block community college officials from requiring Johnson to complete DEIA training to serve on faculty screening committees.
Dive Insight:
In early 2023, the California Community College system amended regulations governing employee reviews to say that faculty members should “employ teaching, learning, and professional practices that reflect DEIA and anti-racist principles.” It also tied evaluation of employees to “DEIA-related competencies.”
Johnson sued shortly afterward, though Sheriff initially dismissed his case over a lack of standing. But Johnson brought his case to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which revived some of his claims and remanded the case to the lower court.
In Friday’s ruling, Sherriff temporarily blocked Bakersfield College and Kern Community College District from enforcing the regulations over Johnson’s “scholarship or teaching.” Officials are also barred from applying to Johnson’s speech as a private citizen or his role as the faculty lead of the Renegade Institute for Liberty, a coalition of Bakersfield faculty that says it promotes free markets, civil discourse and intellectual diversity…