The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit in Atlanta has struck down core parts of a 2022 Florida law that restricted teaching about gender and race in higher education classrooms.
The appeals court ruled that the law is a "breathtaking assertion of power to ban unpopular ideas from public discourse in the very places the State’s own statutes recognize as centers of inquiry — classrooms where students are trusted to puzzle through ideas that are good and bad, easy and hard, ideally getting ever closer to the truth.”
The court continued that the law “runs headlong into the Supreme Court’s repeated, if imprecise, endorsements of academic freedom. If the First Amendment offers any boundary of protection at all for public university classrooms, this statute crosses it.”
LeRoy Pernell, a Florida A&M University College of Law professor, was the named plaintiff in the case. In a statement, he said years of fighting the law had paid off.
“We are thrilled the court has stopped the erasure of topics that have real implications for our students, allowing them to learn, discuss, and develop tools for combatting the complex issue of racism in our country without being gagged by those who would dictate that only state-approved thought may be promoted,” said Pernell.
The 2022 law, known as the Stop WOKE Act, has been a major pillar in Gov. Ron DeSantis’ battle against so-called woke ideology. The Florida Board of governors cited the law when it removed the Introduction to Sociology course from the core curriculum offered to all freshman students earlier this year, saying the course violated the law.
“No one should be instructed to feel as if they are not equal or shamed because of their race,” DeSantis said in a statement upon signing the bill into law. “In Florida, we will not let the far-left woke agenda take over our schools and workplaces. There is no place for indoctrination or discrimination in Florida.”
READ MORE: Florida removes Intro to Sociology as 'core curriculum' as faculty cry foul
The law placed restrictions on teaching subjects such as race, gender and unconscious bias in higher education classrooms. It sought to impose monetary penalties on colleges and universities that did not comply, and allowed for the termination of professors who violated the restrictions on teaching those issues. Then-Florida Education Commissioner Anastasios Kamoutsas publicly fired a sociology professor that was helping the state create a new textbook last year, claiming he violated the law.
The appeals court decision was reached by a three judge panel. Britt Grant, a nominee of President Trump in 2018, and Justice Charles Wilson, nominated by President Bill Clinton, wrote the majority opinion.
Justice Barbara Lagoa dissented. Lagoa was nominated by President Trump in 2019. She was previously selected by Gov. DeSantis to serve on the Florida Supreme Court before her federal nomination.
"To be clear, the First Amendment protects all viewpoints in the public square, whether they are conventional or controversial," wrote Lagoa in the dissent. "But it does not compel all viewpoints to be worthy of state-sponsored endorsement."
From the appeals court, the only court left for Florida to appeal to would be the U.S. Supreme Court. It is not immediately clear if Florida plans to appeal the case.
The plaintiffs were represented by the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida, the NAACP’s Strategic Initiatives at the Legal Defense Fund and the law firm Ballard Spahr.
“This ruling sets a strong precedent that higher education cannot be limited to the whims of politicians,” Leah Watson, senior staff attorney with the ACLU’s Racial Justice Program said in a statement.
“All students and educators deserve to have a free and open exchange about ideas without government control. Students can’t fight racial discrimination that they don’t see; training and instruction is key to empowering future leaders to pursue racial justice.”
