Lawsuit challenging South Carolina’s curriculum restrictions dismissed by federal judge

A South Carolina law that restricts how race and gender are taught in public schools is being challenged in a lawsuit filed by the Legal Defense Fund, which argues that the law suppresses free speech and infringes on students’ right to learn. (Credit: SCDOE)

(WCIV) — A federal judge Monday threw out a lawsuit that argued South Carolina was censoring certain subject matter concerning racial inequalities and Black history and culture in K-12 public classrooms.

The lawsuit directly challenged a temporary law that says schools could lose funding if they teach certain topics about race, sex discrimination and gender. The State Superintendent of Education, Ellen Weaver, and two Midlands school districts were at the forefront of the case.

U.S. District Judge Sherri A. Lydon, appointed by President Donald Trump in 2019, concluded Monday that the plaintiffs in the case – the South Carolina State Conference of the NAACP, Ibram X. Kendi, Ayanna Mayes, Mary Wood and two students – lacked standing to bring the lawsuit. Judge Lydon stated that the resolution to their problem is in the “democratic process rather than the federal courts.”

Following the ruling, South Carolina’s Attorney General Alan Wilson, who filed a friend-of-the-court brief in support of the State Department of Education and State Superintendent Weaver, touted the decision as the correct one.

“This case was never about real harm to students; it was about activists trying to push their political agenda through the courts,” Wilson said. “The ruling reaffirms that’s not how our system works. These debates should be settled by the people and their elected representatives at the ballot box, not through activist lawsuits.”

Oral arguments in the case, where the plaintiffs’ attorneys also argued the state-wide removal of the AP-level African American studies course is another example of censorship, were heard in late July. No ruling was granted then.

AP-level African American studies was originally taught as a pilot or trial run in some public schools, but was removed in June 2024.

Charles McLaurin, an attorney with the Legal Defense Fund, which argued on behalf of the plaintiffs in the case, said if the course was not reinstated and the budget provision not enjoined, students throughout the state wouldn’t have access to the “critical, vital information that’s in this course.”

It was not a winning argument for the federal courts.

“Teaching African American history is an essential part of our shared American story. The recent federal ruling confirms what the South Carolina Department of Education has consistently maintained: these claims lacked legal merit,” Weaver said in a statement. “Our instructional standards continue to reflect both the painful chapters and the inspiring triumphs that have shaped our nation.”

News 4 reached out to the Legal Defense Fund for comment on Monday’s order and is awaiting word.

The full court decision can be read here.