Florida Governor Ron DeSantis‘ plans to tightly restrict freedom of speech for college professors have been rebuffed by a federal appeals panel.
Judges sitting in the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals were ruling on DeSantis’ “Stop Woke Act”, a wide-ranging set of laws that seeks to tightly restrict the language, ideas, and concepts allowed to be expressed by regular Americans.
The court was specifically ruling on how the law affects higher education and whether it’s lawful for politicians to decree which theories on race and gender are acceptable to be discussed with students.
“Our Constitution is unique in its commitment to letting the people, rather than the government, find the right equilibrium”
In a judgment described as “scathing” by The Guardian, the court ruled by a 2-1 majority that DeSantis’ law breaches the freedom of expression rights granted to all Americans by the US Constitution.
Britt Grant, who, incidentally, was appointed by Donald Trump, wrote the majority verdict, which begins:
“The First Amendment, incorporated against the States in 1868, is this country’s written commitment to the idea that freedom of speech is essential to freedom of thought, and that both are essential to maintaining our liberty.”
Grant goes on to rule:
“For its part, Florida seeks to evade any First Amendment limitations at all by rigging together several speech doctrines to create a new rule that would quietly remove all free speech protections from the classroom. Because the government pays the professors’ salaries, Florida says, their speech is the State’s speech. Emphatically no.”
She concludes:
“The proper role of universities in our society has long been a topic of fierce debate. Universities and professors do not always get it right. Neither does the government. But as we said not long ago, “[i]ntellectual and cultural tumult do not last forever, and our Constitution is unique in its commitment to letting the people, rather than the government, find the right equilibrium.”
LeRoy Pernell, a professor at Florida A&M University’s college of law and the lawsuit’s named plaintiff said he was “thrilled”: “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.”
Carrie McNamara, staff attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida, argued this was a victory for constitutionally protected free speech, saying, “Our classrooms are meant to be rooms of curiosity, creativity, and learning. When we stifle this kind of critical thinking, we risk losing our education system as we know it.”
Neither DeSantis nor his representatives have commented on the ruling. DeSantis has also tried to crack down on educators in other ways, with one of his laws seeing a teacher fired for using a student’s preferred name (as per Florida Today), and being put in his place by California governor Gavin Newsom.
Published: Jul 8, 2026 04:57 am