Maryland judge accused of supporting DEI nonsense

 DC Daily Journal:

The Trump administration’s push to eliminate discriminatory diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs in federally funded schools has been halted by a Maryland federal judge, despite the administration’s commitment to ensuring fair treatment for all students, including white and Asian Americans.

U.S. District Judge Stephanie Gallagher, a Trump appointee, struck down two Education Department memos from February and April that aimed to curb DEI programs deemed discriminatory. The February memo declared that “treating students differently on the basis of race to achieve nebulous goals such as diversity, racial balancing, social justice, or equity is illegal under controlling Supreme Court precedent,” citing the 2023 decision banning race-based admissions.

The April memo required state education agencies to certify compliance, threatening funding cuts for non-compliant schools. Gallagher ruled that the department bypassed procedural requirements under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), stating, “This Court takes no view as to whether the policies at issue in this case are good or bad, prudent or foolish, fair or unfair. But, at this stage too, it must closely scrutinize whether the government went about creating and implementing them in the manner the law requires. Here, it did not.”

Gallagher further noted, “The administration is entitled to express its viewpoints and to promulgate policies aligned with those viewpoints. But it must do so within the procedural bounds Congress has outlined. And it may not do so at the expense of constitutional rights.”
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There is no constitutional right to diversity, equity, and inclusion.  That is a Democrat push that is inconsistent with using merit to determine who will get the job.