Judge Orders Canceled UC Grants Restored by EPA, NSF and National Endowment for the Humanities

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Federal District Court Judge Rita Lin issued a preliminary injunction ordering grants restored to six University of California researchers by the Environmental Protection Agency, National Science Foundation, and National Endowment for the Humanities.

Lin divided the scientists involved in the class action lawsuit into two categories: those researching in what Lin described as “blacklisted DEI [diversity, equity, and inclusion] topics” and those who got form letters stopping their projects with little explanation. She found the grant terminations likely violated the researchers’ First Amendment rights by cutting off their study of topics Donald Trump’s regime dislikes or has declared a waste of resources, and also likely violated the 1946 Administrative Procedure Act by failing to provide a reasonable explanation for the grant terminations.

Lin indicated she may expand her order to include thirteen other federal agencies named in the lawsuit.

The federal government is likely to appeal.

https://www.science.org/content/article/federal-judge-orders-agencies-restore-grants-university-california-scientists