SPLC and Legal Defense Fund Appeal Denial of Injunction in University of Alabama Magazine Case
Attorneys representing students who sued the University of Alabama are appealing a district court's denial of a preliminary injunction. The lawsuit concerns the consolidation of the university's Black student magazine, 'Nineteen Fifty-Six,' and its women's magazine, 'Alice.' The appeal has been filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, seeking to overturn U.S. District Judge Edmund LaCour, Jr.'s May order. Judge LaCour's decision argued that the university's actions were either a core curricular decision, within its right to manage forums it created, or a reasonable and viewpoint-neutral content selection. Sam Boyd, a senior supervising attorney at the Southern Poverty Law Center, stated that the suspension of these magazines constitutes unjust censorship of students and perpetuates discrimination. The magazines were initially shuttered by the university, which cited guidance from the Department of Justice's DEI memo, and later relaunched as independently funded projects. 
