US judge rejects challenges by Trump, affirmative action foe to Illinois nonprofit diversity law

By Nate Raymond

Aug 21 (Reuters) - A federal judge has rejected a bid by the Trump administration and a group founded by a prominent affirmative action opponent to block enforcement of a new Illinois law that requires non-profits to publicly report data they collect on the race, gender and sexual orientation of their governing bodies.

U.S. District Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman in Chicago on Wednesday declined to issue a preliminary injunction sought by affirmative action foe Edward Blum's American Alliance for Equal Rights and concluded the Trump administration lacked legal standing to pursue its own challenge to the Democratic-led state's law.

That measure, Illinois Senate Bill 2930, was signed into law in June 2024 by Democratic Governor JB Pritzker and requires certain nonprofit organizations to disclose aggregate demographic data about their boards of directors and officers.

The American Alliance for Equal Rights filed a lawsuit in January arguing the law violates the U.S. Constitution's 1st and 14th Amendments by forcing charities to speak about demographic issues they do not want to discuss and by encouraging the organizations to discriminate based on race.

The Justice Department intervened in the case in March and filed its own complaint, in furtherance of U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi's vow to help fulfill Republican President Donald Trump's pledge to eradicate diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies.

But Coleman, an appointee of Democratic President Barack Obama, said the Justice Department had failed to show why the federal government had standing to pursue a case in the first place when it never argued the law caused it any harm.

In the case of Blum's group, she said it likewise lacked standing to sue on behalf of two anonymous non-profits that are members of his organization because the state's law does not appear to require them to post anything online about their board's demographics if they never received such information.

The judge said that was because officers and directors are not required to provide such information and only do so on an optional, voluntary basis.

While the judge said Blum's group did have standing to challenge the law's related requirement that a nonprofit ask its directors and officers about demographic issues, she declined to enjoin it as she said all of the alliance's arguments focused on the provision concerning the data disclosure requirement.

Coleman expressed disappointment that Blum's group and the Justice Department repeatedly insisted she rule on the case quickly, noting she had over 300 other active cases on her docket to juggle at the same time while devoting "significant attention" to their case.

"The parties are placed on notice that this Court will assign priority to cases and motions as appropriate," she wrote.

Blum in an email called the ruling disappointing and said his group will appeal. The Justice Department did not respond to requests for comment.

The lawsuit is one of several Blum has filed challenging state and corporate diversity initiatives after another group he founded in 2023 convinced the conservative-majority U.S. Supreme Court to bar the consideration of race as a factor in college admissions.

The case is American Alliance For Equal Rights v. Bennett, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, No. 25-cv-00669.

For American Alliance for Equal Rights: Cameron Norris of Consovoy McCarthy

For the United States: Hilary Pinion of the U.S. Department of Justice

For Illinois: Karyn Bass Ehler of the Office of the Illinois Attorney General

Read more:

Trump administration challenges Illinois nonprofit diversity law