Federal court rules Florida law violated professors' First Amendment rights

FORT MYERS, Fla. (WINK)—A federal appeals court blocked Florida from enforcing speech restrictions on public university professors under the state's Individual Freedom Act.

The law, passed in 2022, prevents educators from teaching eight topics that cover gender and identity. That includes whether someone's racial identity determines if they're oppressed or privileged.

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Gov. Ron DeSantis said the law was meant to stop what he described as "woke ideology" from being taught to kids. It applies to both K-12 schools and public universities.

Critics, including the ACLU, which sued over the law, argue the law is vague and chilled debate in the classroom. A divided panel of federal judges agreed, ruling the law is unconstitutional and violates professors' First Amendment rights in a 2-1 decision.

The ruling was written by a Trump-appointed judge. "The ideas Florida targets may well be noxious. Or maybe not. Either way, in this context the First Amendment trusts students to figure it out for themselves," the judge wrote.

The ruling only applies to universities, not K-12 schools, because the state has traditionally exercised more control over those classrooms, according to the court. Aubrey Jewett, a University of Central Florida political science professor, weighed in on what this means for teachers and students.

"I think practically speaking, it means that professors and students can feel a little bit more comfortable about talking about these concepts that this law was trying to prohibit, you know, whether a person agrees with the idea of structural racism or critical race theory or institutional racism or unconscious bias or not," Jewett said.

DeSantis' office directed WINK News to previous court filings when asked for comment.

Florida Gulf Coast University declined to comment.

Florida SouthWestern State College said they will follow all laws and guidance from officials and they remain committed to serving students. It is possible the state could appeal this ruling.