A divided federal appeals court ruled on July 7 that Florida’s restrictions on how public university professors could teach certain concepts about race, sex, and diversity violated the First Amendment. In a 2-1 decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit upheld a lower court’s order blocking part of the state’s Individual Freedom Act, also known as the Stop WOKE Act. The law banned the teaching of eight specific concepts associated with critical race theory, white privilege, and affirmative action.
The ruling could have persuasive authority in challenges to similar state laws targeting diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies in public schools and universities. The majority opinion, written by Judge Britt Grant, a Trump appointee, rejected Florida’s argument that professors’ speech is government speech because they are paid by the state. “If the First Amendment offers any boundary of protection at all for public university classrooms, this statute crosses it,” Grant wrote. The dissenting judge argued that states should control their own classrooms.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, signed the bill in 2022, stating that “No one should be instructed to feel as if they are not equal or shamed because of their race.” The law prohibited instruction that “espouses, promotes, advances, inculcates, or compels” students to believe the eight concepts, including that merit and colorblindness are racist or sexist, and that one race or sex is morally superior. The ruling affirmed a 2022 district court decision that issued a preliminary injunction on the law.
The decision gives Florida a path to keep fighting. The state can ask the full 11th Circuit to rehear the case or petition the Supreme Court to review it. The ruling emphasizes that universities are meant to expose students to competing ideas rather than shield them from controversial viewpoints.