Week in Review: 3 More Victories for Freedom

Here’s yet another Goldwater victory in the battle to dismantle discriminatory “diversity, equity, and inclusion” (DEI) initiatives at public colleges and universities!

The University of Kentucky just announced the closure of its DEI programs amid significant public scrutiny over the state’s higher education bureaucrats, weeks after a Goldwater Institute report revealed how they mandate racial discrimination.

“Across the country, DEI is crumbling as citizens recognize the incompatibility of these programs with the mission of public universities,” Goldwater Senior Constitutionalism Fellow Timothy K. Minella writes. And these successes underscore the need for state lawmakers to adopt Goldwater’s suite of reforms to end the campus DEI regime for good.

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First Amendment Victory in Oregon

You shouldn’t be forced to support speech you don’t agree with just to do your job.

The Oregon State Bar Association didn’t get the memo. So, we sued them for violating the First Amendment—and we won! This week, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled that Oregon State Bar officials violated a conservative lawyer’s First Amendment rights when the Bar endorsed controversial statements in a magazine funded by mandatory dues paid by members.

Oregon is one of dozens of states where the government forces lawyers to join their state’s privately run bar associations—but Goldwater is fighting this injustice across the country. After all, someone else’s politics shouldn’t get in the way of your right to earn a living.

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Government Is Not Above the Law

Are Phoenix officials finally getting the message? In a victory for Phoenix business and property owners who sued the city with Goldwater’s help, the Arizona Court of Appeals this week upheld a decision ordering the city to clean up “The Zone”—the vast, lawless homeless encampment that the city effectively operated for well over a year.

The “ruling is a welcome reminder that the government is not above the law,” Goldwater VP for Legal Affairs Timothy Sandefur writes. But in Phoenix, it’s become clear that officials cannot be counted on to follow existing laws. That’s why the Goldwater Institute designed Prop 312—an Arizona ballot measure that ensures that when government fails to enforce existing laws regarding illegal camping and other nuisances, taxpayers will no longer be forced to foot the bill.

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