Gov. Ron DeSantis has declared that this state is where woke goes to die, but a group seeking to overturn the Stop WOKE Act is saying, “Not so fast.”
DeSantis issued a memo Dec. 28 requiring that the state’s colleges and universities respond by Jan. 13 with a list of programs and campus activities that relate to diversity, equity, inclusion, and critical race theory.
“State law requires dutiful attention to curriculum content at our higher education as specified in … Florida Statutes,” reads the memo from the Office of Policy and Budget to Education Commissioner Manny Diaz and Chancellor Ray Rodrigues.
But the plaintiffs who sued for — and won — an injunction against the law’s enforcement on state and college campuses are saying the Governor’s demand is a violation of an injunction from the Chief U.S. District Judge Mark Walker issued Nov. 17. The injunction can’t be lifted — and the law (HB 7) shouldn’t be enforced — without a ruling from an appeals court, lawyers for the group say.
The group, composed of seven educators and one student from six state universities, is asking the court to nullify that memo that specifically references the law, now under injunction.
“Rather than honoring a federal court order prohibiting enforcement of Florida’s Stop WOKE Act, Florida officials continue to collect information about professors’ coursework pursuant to that illegal law,” said Lauren Johnson, senior counsel for the Legal Defense Fund, which, with the American Civil Liberties Union, is representing the plaintiffs.
“A federal court has already found the Stop WOKE Act likely violates the United States Constitution. With today’s motion, we seek to ensure that educators in public universities across Florida can freely exercise their constitutional rights and teach important concepts about race, gender, and inequality pursuant to their academic disciplines.”
An afternoon inquiry to the Governor’s Office was not immediately returned Wednesday.
In issuing the injunction, Judge Walker said the law violated the First Amendment and described it as “positively dystopian.” The state has appealed Walker’s ruling to the Atlanta-based appeals court and requested a stay of the injunction.
The legislation now in litigation, formally called the Individual Freedom Act (IFA), gave students and employees a reason to sue if instruction or training made them feel uncomfortable or guilty because of their race, gender or national origin. It also prohibited critical race theory instruction, which critics say teaches students to see the country’s history as systemically oppressive to women and minorities.
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