Trump-aligned legal group sues Michigan Law Review over ‘Illegal DEI’ bias
A conservative legal group backed by top allies of President Donald Trump is suing the University of Michigan and its flagship law journal, alleging its editor and article selection process illegally discriminates against white, male, heterosexual, and conservative applicants.
Filed late Wednesday in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, the complaint targets the Michigan Law Review’s so-called “holistic review” process. The lawsuit claims the process favors women, racial minorities, and LGBT candidates while penalizing white and Asian applicants, especially those with conservative or Christian views, based on race, ideology, and religion.
“Illegal DEI practices permeate everything that the Michigan Law Review does,” the complaint stated, pointing to language in a job description for the role of the “Executive Development Editor,” which asks that the role should “facilitate” DEI values through “recruitment, journal culture, and scholarship.”
The lawsuit, brought by the group Faculty, Alumni, and Students Opposed to Racial Preferences, cites violations of Title VI, the 14th Amendment’s equal protection clause, and equal rights under the law. The group is represented by prominent lawyer Jonathan Mitchell and America First Legal, a conservative firm founded by Trump’s senior adviser Stephen Miller.
The 32-page complaint alleges the journal has abandoned merit-based criteria in favor of ideological and identity-based preferences that disproportionately exclude white, male, heterosexual, and religious contributors.