A federal judge has barred Florida officials from enforcing provisions of the state’s Stop WOKE Act that limit how professors can tailor lectures on topics including race, color, national origin and sex.
Judge Mark Walker of the Northern District of Florida said in the Nov. 17 opinion that the new Florida law, which supporters say prevents students from being indoctrinated or made to feel guilty during college class discussions, casts “a leaden pall of orthodoxy” over Florida state universities and is contrary to the concept of academic freedom.
“Defendants argue that under this act, professors enjoy ‘academic freedom’ so long as they express only those viewpoints of which the state approves,” Walker wrote. “This is positively dystopian.”
The new law had the strong support of Gov. Ron DeSantis. The governor’s press secretary said state officials would appeal Walker’s ruling.
“This recent ruling included several victories for our legal team,” Bryan Griffin said in an email to the Florida Record. “We expect many more and ultimately to prevail in this litigation. We strongly disagree with Judge Walker’s preliminary injunction orders on the enforcement of the Stop WOKE Act and will continue to fight to prevent Florida’s students and employees from being subjected to discriminatory classroom instruction or mandated discriminatory workplace training.”
The new law is designed to prohibit teachers from imposing discriminatory concepts on students as part of classroom discussions, according to Griffin.
“An ‘open-minded and critical’ environment necessitates that one is free from discrimination,” he said.
One of the cases that prompted Walker’s opinion was filed on behalf of a professor, student group and an individual student by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression. The foundation argued that the new law would unconstitutionally chill free speech on campuses and impose faculty censorship.
“Faculty members are hired to offer opinions from their academic expertise – not toe the party line,” the foundation’s attorney, Adam Steinbaugh, said in a prepared statement. “Florida’s argument that faculty members have no First Amendment rights would have imperiled faculty members across the political spectrum.”