Norman Public Schools teachers can be penalized under Oklahoma's classroom speech law after a federal appeals court lifted an injunction blocking its full enforcement.

The law hit close to home in Norman. Teacher Summer Boismier made national headlines after her teaching certificate was revoked in 2024 for an alleged violation of House Bill 1775. She sued the state.

The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 on Sept. 9 to vacate a preliminary injunction that had blocked enforcement of several provisions of HB 1775 since 2024, the OU Daily reported. The decision in Black Emergency Response Team v. Drummond means the state can enforce every section of the law while the legal challenge continues.

HB 1775 prohibits teachings that one race or sex is superior or that someone is inherently racist or sexist based on their race or sex. The lawsuit was brought by the OU Black Emergency Response Team, public school teachers and students. They are represented by the ACLU, the ACLU of Oklahoma, the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and the firm McDermott, Will & Schulte.

Both sides claimed a measure of victory.

Attorney General Gentner Drummond called the ruling a win in a news release, according to the OU Daily. The ACLU, which represents the plaintiffs, argued the majority's narrow reading of the law effectively limits its reach.

The two-judge majority interpreted HB 1775 to mean teachers violate the law only if they present an unqualified racist or sexist assertion as fact, according to Michael Pillera, director of the Educational Opportunities Project at the Lawyers' Committee. Pillera said in a statement that the decision limits the law's most harmful reach.

Emerson Sykes, a senior staff attorney with the ACLU, said in a statement that the majority's narrow reading means HB 1775 no longer blocks inclusive teaching or honest classroom discussions about race and gender. Megan Lambert, legal director of the ACLU of Oklahoma, said the ruling effectively narrowed the law to prohibit only educators who affirmatively encourage discrimination.

Dissenting Judge Nancy Moritz disagreed. She wrote that the majority was attempting to rescue what she called an obviously vague statute and said she would have blocked enforcement of the law in full, according to the ACLU's account of the ruling.

The state penalized Tulsa Public Schools in 2022 for a potential violation of HB 1775. Opponents of the law say that action created a chilling effect on classroom discussions statewide.

In June 2025, the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled that HB 1775 does not apply to college and university classrooms, limiting its reach to K-12 schools. The University of Oklahoma had already changed its first-year diversity course policy in 2021 in response to the law.

The case now returns to federal district court. No hearing date has been set.