By Janelle Stecklein | Editor
“Oklahoma students deserve a nuanced education of race, gender, and American history. This ruling narrowed Oklahoma’s censorship law out of existence by interpreting it to only prohibit educators from affirmatively encouraging discrimination.” - Megan Lambert of a federal court ruling limiting the interpretation of a state law impacting public school teaching on race and gender
A classroom sits empty at Mayo Demonstration School in Tulsa Public Schools on April 8, 2024. The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld an Oklahoma law banning certain race and gender concepts from being taught in public schools. (Photo by Nuria Martinez-Keel/Oklahoma Voice)
By Nuria Martinez-Keel
A federal appeals court has upheld and limited the interpretation of a controversial Oklahoma law impacting public school teaching on race and gender.
In a split decision Wednesday, the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals decided House Bill 1775 appropriately bars Oklahoma public schools from teaching certain discriminatory concepts as if they are facts. The decision overturned a 2024 preliminary injunction from a U.S. district judge in Oklahoma City federal court, who had blocked a few portions of the law for vagueness.
A group of Oklahoma students, teachers, college professors and activists who sued to overturn the 2021 law contended HB 1775 is overly vague and unconstitutionally censors classroom discussions.
Reps. Andy Fugate, D-Oklahoma City, left, and Mike Osburn, R-Edmond, right, speak to members of the media at the state Capitol on Sept. 10, 2026, after a closed-door meeting of the Rules Committee where they discussed allegations of a lawmaker’s misconduct. (Photo by Emma Murphy/Oklahoma Voice)
By Emma Murphy
The House Rules Committee set a meeting date in two weeks to publicly discuss allegations of misconduct against an Oklahoma lawmaker for the first time since they came to light over a month ago.
University of Oklahoma freshmen attend the OU Welcome Class of 2027 event on Aug. 12, 2023, at Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman. (Photo by Kyle Phillips/For Oklahoma Voice)
By Nuria Martinez-Keel
Oklahoma’s two largest universities received D grades for campus free speech in a national ranking.
Voters head into a polling site at Grand Park in Westfield, Indiana, on May 5, 2026. (Photo by Tom Davies/Indiana Capital Chronicle)
By Ariana Figueroa
Latino advocacy groups and voting rights organizations Thursday filed a suit in federal court challenging the Trump administration’s policy of allowing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers to enter polling locations in certain circumstances to conduct immigration enforcement during the 2026 midterm elections.
People look out at Manhattan and beyond at One World Observatory at One World Trade Center in New York City. Twenty-five years after 9/11, the surveillance systems built in its aftermath continue to shape how Americans are watched and policed. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
By Amanda Watford
Twenty-five years after 9/11, the surveillance infrastructure built and expanded in its aftermath has become part of a far larger digital ecosystem — producing tools that can collect and analyze information on a scale unimaginable in 2001.
ICYMI
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