HELENA, Mont. — Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen led a 14-state coalition of attorneys general in filing an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court Tuesday, asking the justices to reverse a Ninth Circuit decision that upheld California’s requirement that physicians complete diversity, equity, and inclusion training as a condition of maintaining their medical licenses.
The brief was filed in Azadeh Khatini, MD; Do No Harm, Inc. v. Randy Hawkins, a case challenging California’s Continuing Medical Education mandate that requires physicians to complete coursework on implicit bias, including how it affects treatment decisions and health outcomes across patients of different races, ethnicities, gender identities, sexual orientations, and age groups. The coalition argued the requirement violates physicians’ First Amendment rights by compelling them to adopt and express state-approved viewpoints as a condition of professional licensure.
Knudsen argued in the brief that California had historically exercised little to no control over continuing medical education curriculum, but its recent mandate fundamentally changed that relationship by forcing private instructors to serve as mouthpieces for the state’s position on deeply contested social and political questions.
The coalition further argued the Ninth Circuit’s decision conflicts with Chiles v. Salazar, a case in which courts applied strict scrutiny to the regulation of professional speech. Just as the government cannot prohibit a professional from speaking on a viewpoint contrary to the government’s position, the brief argued, it cannot compel a professional to endorse the government’s viewpoint. The attorneys general warned that if California’s mandate survives constitutional review, it could open the door to government-compelled messaging across other licensed professional fields.
Attorneys general from Alabama, Alaska, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, and West Virginia joined Montana in signing the brief.