What are the free speech rights of public university instructors in the classroom when they disagree with the university’s curriculum? A federal court in Florida recently considered this question.
In Pernell v. Florida Board of Governors of State University System (N.D. Fla., Nov. 17, 2022) —- F.Supp.3d —-, 2022 WL 16985720, the Northern District of Florida determined Florida’s recently passed “Individual Freedom Act” (“IFA”) (referred to informally as Florida’s “Stop W.O.K.E[1]. Act”) and implementing regulations violated the First Amendment because they constitute impermissible viewpoint discrimination and are unconstitutionally vague. The case required the district court to address the tension “between university professors’ and student’ First Amendment rights and the State of Florida’s claim that it has an unfettered right to prohibit professors from expressing viewpoints with which it disagrees.”
Background
In April 2022, the Florida legislature passed the IFA to amend the Florida Educational Equity Act (“FEEA”). Notably, FEEA is only applicable to public colleges and universities.
Under the IFA, academic institutions and educators were prohibited from “subjecting any student or employee to training or instruction that espouses, promotes, advances, inculcates, or compels such student or employee to believe” one of the following eight concepts:
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