On Thursday, a federal judge stopped a significant provision of the “Stop-WOKE” Act, which Republican Governor Ron DeSantis championed. The ruling prevents state officials from enforcing what the governor referred to as a “positively dystopian” policy, which restricts how lessons on race and gender can be taught in colleges and universities.
The 138-page order issued by Chief U.S. District Judge Mark Walker is being hailed as a significant victory for campus free speech by the organisations that brought the State to court. The temporary injunction that Walker issued regarding the anti-woke statute has substantial repercussions for the State of Florida policy, including a forthcoming university tenure review rule that mandates instructors to comply with it.
Walker wrote, using a quote from George Orwell’s novel “1984,” “It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.” The powers in charge of Florida‘s public university system have declared the State has unfettered authority to muzzle its professors in the name of “freedom,” according to Walker’s writing. Former President Barack Obama chose Walker for a position on the federal bench and appointed him.
The “anti-woke” legislation known as FL H.B. 7 (22R), also known as the Individual Freedom Act, was passed earlier this year by the Republican-controlled legislature in Florida. A person should not be instructed to “feel guilt, anguish, or any other form of psychological distress” because of their race, colour, s*x, or national origin, according to the new law, which was directly inspired by DeSantis and expanded Florida’s anti-discrimination laws.
According to Bryan Griffin, a spokeswoman for the governor, the administration plans to appeal the decision. In a statement, he added, “We strongly disagree with Judge Walker’s preliminary injunction orders on the execution of the Stop W.O.K.E. Act and will continue to fight.” (We strongly disagree with Judge Walker’s preliminary injunction orders on the enforcement of the Stop W.O.K.E. Act)
On Thursday, Walker issued a judgement in which he concluded that the regulations in question violate the free speech protections guaranteed by the First Amendment and the due process rights guaranteed by the 14th Amendment on college campuses.
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“The legislation legally prevents academics from expressing disfavored ideas in university classrooms while authorising unfettered expression of the opposite viewpoints,” wrote Walker. “The law also permits unfettered expression of the viewpoints that oppose the disfavored viewpoints.” “The Defendants contend that by this Act, academics are entitled to ‘academic freedom,’ provided they express only those points of view that the State sanctions. It couldn’t be more dystopian if it tried.
The decision that the court handed down on Thursday resulted from two separate lawsuits that were filed against the Stop-WOKE Act. These cases were heard together since both contested how the law applied to higher education. The workplace and schools for grades K-12 are the targets of other legal disputes.
One of the lawsuits was submitted by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, a college free speech group. It was submitted on behalf of a professor, a student, and a student organisation at the University of South Florida. It was stated that the law being pushed by DeSantis infringes their right to freedom of speech, as proven by the fact that it could restrict lessons on essential subjects such as Jackie Robinson, who was the first black player to break the colour barrier in professional baseball.
According to a statement released by the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), an attorney for the organisation, Adam Steinbaugh, “Faculty members are employed to express comments based on their academic knowledge — not toe the party line.” “The premise that faculty members have no rights under the First Amendment, as put up by Florida, would have put academic members of all political stripes in jeopardy.”
On behalf of students and teachers, the American Civil Liberties Union (A.C.L.U.), the A.C.L.U. of Florida, and the Legal Defense Fund filed a lawsuit against the State of Florida about “anti-woke” legislation. They assert that it is a “discriminatory classroom censorship rule that significantly restricts” how topics related to race and gender can be taught in schools and how such issues can be discussed.
According to a statement made by Emerson Sykes, a senior staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union’s Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project, “This is a significant victory for everyone who values academic freedom and appreciates the benefits of inclusive education.” “The First Amendment generally protects our right to exchange information and ideas, including the right of educators and students to learn about, discuss, and criticise systematic racism and sexism.”
The Board of Governors for the State University System, one of the primary defendants in the case, has declined to comment on the decision. A request for comment sent to the Florida Department of Education was not immediately met with a response from department officials.
In a motion seeking to dismiss the lawsuit, Attorneys for the State argued that the legislation prohibits teachers and professors from endorsing concepts spelled out in the anti-woke law, not “descriptive, historical discussion of racism in the past.” This argument supported the State’s position that the lawsuit should be dismissed.
Attorneys for the State wrote that it is not a violation of the act if a teacher tells students that during a specific period in history, an individual’s status as either privileged or oppressed was necessarily determined by race. This is an example of an instruction that would not violate the act. “The professor has only explained historical factual conditions; he has in no way personally endorsed the concept that an individual’s place in today’s society is inherently determined by race,”
At the beginning of this month, the leaders of the universities in the State of Florida gave their preliminary approval to a new rule that outlines reviews for tenured faculty members in all of the State’s universities. These guidelines require schools to investigate university professors for violations of the “Stop-WOKE” law, unapproved absences, substantiated student complaints, and other metrics.
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