Florida’s anti-semitism law that restricts how professors can teach about race and gender at public colleges and universities violates the First Amendment, a separate appeals court ruled Tuesday. It’s a major blow to one of Gov. Gov.’s signature culture war policies. Ron DeSantis.
A 2-1 decision from the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit keeps Florida from enforcing the higher education provisions of the so-called Stop WOKE Act, a 2022 law that DeSantis championed as part of his broader campaign against critical racial theory, diversity programs and what he calls “awakening” ideas in schools and workplaces.
Judge Britt Grant, an appointee of President Donald Trump, rejected Florida’s argument that professors’ classroom speech is national because they are paid by the government.
“If the First Amendment provides any boundary to protect public university classrooms, this law oversteps it,” Grant wrote.
The majority said the case forced the court to answer a question the Supreme Court left open: how much public university professors are protected when they teach.
“Hearing an opinion you don’t agree with isn’t racism; it’s an opportunity to come up with a better idea, or maybe change your mind,” Grant wrote.
The split decision gives Florida a way to keep fighting. A three-judge panel upheld the preliminary injunction, meaning the law remains closed while the case continues. Florida can ask the full 11th Circuit to rehear the case or ask the Supreme Court to review it.
DeSantis did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The law, formally known as the Individual Freedom Act, prohibited instruction that “encourages, encourages, promotes, inculcates, or compels” students to believe a range of ideas related to race, gender, national origin and privilege.
Those that include ideas that a person is inherently or sexist because of race or gender, or that a person should feel guilty or psychologically distressed because of past actions by members of the same race or gender.
Grant, joined by former President Bill Clinton’s nominee Charles Wilson, called the Florida position “a stunning assertion of the power to keep unpopular views out of public discourse” in university public classrooms.
Judge Barbara Lagoa, another Trump appointee and former Florida Supreme Court justice selected by DeSantis, dissented. Lagoa said Florida is acting within its authority to regulate what professors can allow in state-funded classes.
“The First Amendment protects all opinions in the public sphere, whether they are mainstream or controversial,” Lagoa wrote. “But it doesn’t force every idea to qualify for government approval.”
Lagoa said that most of them are putting restrictions on the government in an inappropriate way regarding the teaching of public universities.
“This panel is not comfortable rewriting the presentation just because we don’t like where it’s leading,” he wrote.
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier praised Lagoa after the decision, writing in X that he “may be the best lawyer in our country” and “should be on SCOTUS.”
Tuesday’s decision is the latest court defeat in DeSantis’ battle against schools, universities and race. The same appeals court had previously blocked another section of the Stop WOKE Act that prohibited on-the-job training.
The latest decision came in two lawsuits brought by professors, students and a group of students who claimed the law amounts to illegal classroom testing. One challenge was filed by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, while the other was brought by the ACLU, ACLU of Florida, the Legal Defense Fund and Ballard Spahr.
“This decision should have been expected. It sets a strong precedent that higher education will not be at the mercy of politicians,” said Leah Watson, senior staff attorney for the ACLU’s Racial Justice Program, in a statement.
