The U.S. Department of Justice, already suing Illinois in an effort to strike down the state’s sanctuary protections for undocumented immigrants, wants to use its heft to take out another Illinois law. In January, the American Alliance for Equal Rights went to
federal court alleging that Illinois is unconstitutionally forcing private entities to discriminate with its first-in-the-nation law requiring nonprofits to post online the demographics of their leadership. Now, Attorney General Pam Bondi is seeking to join the legal fight, in alignment with President Donald Trump’s mission to dismantle diversity, equity and inclusion practices designed to end discrimination and lift underrepresented groups.
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In a
Tuesday evening announcement , the DOJ called its motion to intervene in the lawsuit an “early step toward eradicating illegal race and sex preferences across the government.” “The United States cannot and will not sit idly while a state denies its citizens equal protection under the guise of diversity,” Bondi said in the statement. “The Department of Justice will continue to exercise its statutory right to intervene in cases whenever a state encourages DEI instead of merit.” Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul said Wednesday his office will defend the law. “This statute does not discriminate on the basis of race, and my office is committed to defending the constitutionality of this law in court,” Raoul said in a statement. Illinois’ law (
Public Act 103-0635 /
Senate Bill 2930 ) took effect in January, and mandates that large charities, defined as those that distribute grants of $1 million or more, publish information on their websites about directors’ and board members’ aggregated race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity and disability and veteran status. Illinois corporations have since 2020 been mandated to file reports about their boards’ makeup. Professors with the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign labor college have compiled the
findings in annual reports . The
latest overview, from 2023 , found that “general, racial and ethnic minorities remain underrepresented on boards, particularly relative to their representation in the overall population” with 10% of corporations having zero non-White board members. The 2023 report also said there is “room for improvement before reaching gender parity” although it’s laudable that “female directors comprise over 29 percent of the average board’s total membership.” The Illinois Department of Human Rights, which is named in the lawsuit, did not immediately return requests for comment. The American Alliance for Equal Rights is a national group that describes itself as dedicated to ending racial and other unlawful preferences. In a statement
announcing the lawsuit , its president Edward Blum said the law is “to force nonprofits to classify individuals by race and sex and to compel them to hire people by race and sex. It is clearly unfair and illegal…officers and board members of nonprofits should be selected based upon their individual talents, experience, and interests, not the color of their skin.” In its lawsuit, the equal rights alliance said two of its members are charitable organizations that will be impacted by the law, though it doesn’t name the charities because they’re afraid other charities won’t work with them or that their fundraising will take a hit. The organizations don’t want to ask staff “those intrusive questions” about demographics, the lawsuit reads. The lawsuit argues Illinois statute fails on grounds of the 14th Amendment’s guarantees of equal protection, and the First Amendment’s free speech guarantees. “Members A and B sincerely believe that the demographic composition of their officers and board members is irrelevant to their nonprofits’ performance,” the lawsuit said. “And by requiring Members A and B to advertise their demographic information on their own websites, SB 2930 makes the public think that those traits are relevant and that the demographics of Member A and B’s boards are important. Members A and B don’t want to be compelled to promote that message.” The lawsuit argues Illinois has no compelling interest to encourage “racial discrimination,” and that by forcing charitable groups to collect and share that information, the law is “unconstitutional with respect to race.” “Because the law requires nonprofits to publicize their demographic data, those organizations will face an onslaught of ‘public shaming’ if activists think their boardrooms aren’t diverse enough,” it said. The lawsuit also claims that the demographic categories Illinois requires be tallied are “highly controversial.” Illinois’ law explicitly says that charity board members can opt out of disclosing their demographic information. Sponsors and backers of the law, in
various announcements celebrating its passage, talked about the importance of nonprofits reflecting the communities they serve, and the law’s ability to help recruit diverse members and for the state to choose partners that share that value. “Diversity brings together a range of experiences, perspectives and ideas, and it’s essential nonprofits embrace these differences,” sponsoring state Sen. Adriane Johnson, D-Buffalo Grove, said
in a statement when the measure was signed into law. “I want this law to not only support, but encourage more diversity in their organizations.”
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