11th Circuit blocks Florida's Stop WOKE Act on campuses

A federal appeals court on Tuesday blocked Florida from enforcing a key part of its "Stop WOKE Act" at public colleges and universities, ruling the law's restrictions on classroom instruction violate the First Amendment. The 2-1 decision from a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit upholds a lower court's preliminary injunction, dealing a significant legal setback to a flagship policy of Governor Ron DeSantis.

The law, formally titled the Individual Freedom Act, was passed by the Republican-controlled legislature and signed by DeSantis in 2022. It prohibited professors at public institutions from "endorsing" eight specific concepts related to race, sex, and national origin. These included ideas that one race or sex is morally superior, that a person is inherently racist or sexist, or that individuals should feel guilt or anguish for historical actions committed by others of their race or sex.

In a majority opinion, Judge Britt Grant, joined by Judge Charles Wilson, rejected Florida's argument that because professors are state employees, their classroom speech constitutes government speech that the state can control. Grant called this a "breathtaking...