California history professor wins injunction against DEI regulations

加州历史教授赢得针对DEI法规的禁令

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潜水简报：

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.

加利福尼亚州的一名历史教授周五赢得了联邦法院的一项裁决，该裁决暂时阻止当地社区大学官员就他的奖学金或课堂教学对他实施多样性、公平、包容性和无障碍法规。

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.

在贝克斯菲尔德学院工作的戴蒙·约翰逊正在挑战加州的法规，该法规规定教职员工应该采用反映DEIA原则的教学实践。他声称这些规定侵犯了他的第一修正案权利，可能会迫使他表达他不同意的观点。

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.

美国地区法官柯克·谢里夫（Kirk Sherriff）对此表示同意，他写道，约翰逊“可信地指出了他有理由担心会被DEIA法规禁止的具体言论”。然而，警长拒绝阻止社区大学官员要求约翰逊完成DEIA培训，以便在教师筛选委员会任职。

Dive Insight:

潜水洞察：

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.”

2023年初，加州社区学院系统修订了管理员工审查的规定，规定教职员工应“采用反映DEIA和反种族主义原则的教学、学习和专业实践”。它还将员工评估与“DEIA相关能力”联系起来。

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.

约翰逊不久后提起诉讼，尽管治安官最初以缺乏诉讼资格为由驳回了他的案件。但约翰逊将他的案件提交给美国第九巡回上诉法院，该法院恢复了他的一些主张，并将案件发回下级法院。

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.

在周五的裁决中，谢里夫暂时阻止贝克斯菲尔德学院和克恩社区学院区执行有关约翰逊“奖学金或教学”的规定。官员们还被禁止申请约翰逊作为普通公民的演讲或他作为叛徒自由研究所（Renegade Institute for Liberty）的教职员工领导的角色，该研究所是贝克斯菲尔德教职员工的联盟，称其促进自由市场、公民话语和知识多样性。

The Institute for Free Speech, which is representing Johnson, praised the decision.

代表约翰逊的言论自由研究所赞扬了这一决定。

“The First Amendment forbids California from demanding that community college professors conform their speech to an official government ideology — including so-called ‘DEI’ and anti-racist ideologies,” Alan Gura, lead counsel for Johnson, said in a statement this week.

约翰逊的首席律师艾伦·古拉在本周的一份声明中表示：“第一修正案禁止加州要求社区大学教授的言论符合政府官方意识形态，包括所谓的‘DEI’和反种族主义意识形态。”

Johnson is not the only professor who has sued over the regulations.

约翰逊并不是唯一一个就这些规定提起诉讼的教授。

In August 2023, six professors sued the leaders of the California Community Colleges system, alleging the new policies violate their free speech rights and asking the judge overseeing the case to declare the regulations unconstitutional.

2023年8月，六名教授起诉加州社区学院系统的领导人，指控新政策侵犯了他们的言论自由权，并要求监督此案的法官宣布这些规定违宪。

Sheriff, who also oversaw that case, dismissed their lawsuit in early 2025, ruling that the provisions didn’t mandate “what professors teach or how any such DEIA principles should be implemented.”

负责此案的警长于2025年初驳回了他们的诉讼，裁定这些条款并未强制规定“教授教授什么或如何实施任何此类DEIA原则”。

The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, a free speech group that represented those plaintiffs, said the lawsuit had achieved its intended outcome by spurring community college officials to promise they wouldn’t use the regulations to censor classroom instruction.

代表这些原告的言论自由组织个人权利和表达基金会表示，诉讼已经达到了预期的结果，促使社区大学官员承诺他们不会利用这些规定审查课堂教学。

“As a result of our suit, the state and the district promised a federal judge they won’t interfere with our clients’ academic freedom and free speech rights,” FIRE attorney Daniel Ortner said in a statement at the time.

消防律师丹尼尔·奥特纳当时在一份声明中表示：“由于我们的诉讼，州政府和学区向联邦法官承诺，他们不会干涉我们客户的学术自由和言论自由权。”

However, FIRE attorney Zach Silver added that the organization would be “watching like a hawk” to ensure they kept their word.

然而，消防律师扎克·西尔弗补充说，该组织将“像鹰一样观察”，以确保他们信守诺言。