Attorney General Alan Wilson fights against DEI mandates at SCOTUS

(COLUMBIA, S.C.) – Attorney General Alan Wilson today joined a 15-state friend-of-the-court brief to the U.S. Supreme Court that supports a challenge to California’s DEI mandates. The specific law requires doctors to receive instruction on implicit bias in order to keep their license to practice medicine. It also requires the instructors to promote DEI concepts, even if they disagree.

The state of California requires private citizens who prepare and present continuing medical education (CME) courses to repeat the state’s viewpoint that implicit bias creates disparate health outcomes.

“No government has the right to compel the speech of private citizens,” Attorney General Wilson said. “So-called Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion practices are harmful to our society and have no place in the necessary training for medical professionals to administer care to people in need.” 

In a recent Supreme Court decision, the Court determined that a Colorado law that prohibited professional therapists from speaking a particular viewpoint violated a therapist’s constitutional speech rights. In this case, California claims it can require CME instructors to preach a message they disagree with because CME instruction is government speech in spite of the speech coming from private actors. South Carolina argues that if states can’t silence professionals from promoting a particular viewpoint, they also can’t require professionals to promote a particular viewpoint.

“DEI mandates stand completely opposed to the First Amendment,” Attorney General Wilson stated. “As Attorney General, I will continue fighting to put a stop to liberal DEI practices.”

Attorney General Wilson joined the following states in filing this brief at the U.S. Supreme Court: Montana, Iowa, Alabama, Alaska, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas, West Virginia, and the State Legislature of Arizona.

You can read the brief here.