{"id":2626228,"date":"2026-07-07T17:45:59","date_gmt":"2026-07-07T21:45:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/florida-appeals-court-blocks-desantiss-anti-woke-law\/"},"modified":"2026-07-07T17:50:49","modified_gmt":"2026-07-07T21:50:49","slug":"florida-appeals-court-blocks-desantiss-anti-woke-law","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/florida-appeals-court-blocks-desantiss-anti-woke-law\/","title":{"rendered":"Florida appeals court blocks DeSantis&#8217;s &#8216;Anti-WOKE&#8217; law"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">14<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fflorida-appeals-court-blocks-desantiss-anti-woke-law%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2626228&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>A <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/federal-court-is-fast-tracking-sidney-powells-request-for-a-forensic-exam-of-dominion-voting-machines\/\" title=\"Federal ... Is Fast-Tracking Sidney Powell\u2019s Request For A Forensic Exam Of Dominion Voting Machines\">federal appeals court<\/a> has struck down Florida\u2019s Stop WOKE Act, ruling that teh state cannot restrict what public collage and university professors teach about race and gender, as it violates the First Amendment. The 2-1 decision upheld a lower court\u2019s injunction, emphasizing that professors&#8217; speech is protected and cannot be deemed government speech simply because they are state employees. The court criticized Florida\u2019s legal argument for trying to <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >merge incompatible constitutional doctrines<\/a> to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/government-cant-solve-our-cancel-culture-problem\/\" title=\"Government Can\u2019t Solve our Cancel Culture Problem\">suppress free speech<\/a> in education. Judge britt Grant highlighted that universities are meant to expose students to diverse ideas, and the First Amendment trusts students to evaluate controversial viewpoints themselves. The ruling affirms previous decisions describing the law as dystopian, with Florida\u2019s legislature having passed it to limit discussions on race and identity that might cause psychological distress. the decision was partly based on the principle that the government shoudl not endorse a single viewpoint, especially in academic settings. The case was supported by organizations like FIRE and the ACLU, which praised the ruling as a victory for academic freedom and free speech.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<article class=\"fn-body\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A federal appeals court on Tuesday dealt a blow to <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/florida\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"159\">Florida\u2019s<\/a> Stop WOKE Act, ruling that the state cannot restrict what professors at public <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/colleges-and-universities\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"3124\">colleges and universities<\/a> teach about race and gender.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In a 2-1 decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit upheld a lower court\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/ca-churches-finally-got-help-from-scotus-and-it-was-a-huge-blow-to-gavin-newsom\/\" title=\"CA Churches Finally Got Help from SCOTUS and It Was a Huge Blow to Gavin Newsom\">preliminary injunction<\/a> blocking enforcement of the law at Florida\u2019s public colleges and universities, concluding that the state cannot dictate classroom viewpoints by treating professors\u2019 speech as government speech under the <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/first-amendment\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"881\">First Amendment<\/a>.<\/p>\n<section class=\"explore-more-section\" id=\"wex-recommended-widget\">\n<div class=\"magazine-container single\">\n<h1 class=\"magazine-title mt-2\">Recommended Stories<\/h1>\n<p>             <i class=\"fa-solid fa-play icon\"><\/i>         <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-grid\">\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/education\/4633332\/california-budget-strips-power-elected-school-superintendent\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>California budget strips power from elected school superintendent and gives it to the governor\u2019s office<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/education\/4633061\/trump-student-loans-public-sector-employees\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>Two judges block Trump\u2019s student loan overhaul for public sector employees<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/house\/4628299\/nancy-pelosi-institute-uc-berkeley-retiring-congress\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>Nancy Pelosi to create a new institute at UC Berkeley after retiring from Congress<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIf the First Amendment offers any boundary of protection at all for public university classrooms, this statute crosses it,\u201d Judge Britt Grant, an appointee of President<a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/donald-trump\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"4\"> Donald Trump<\/a>, wrote for the <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/storage.courtlistener.com\/recap\/gov.uscourts.ca11.80813\/gov.uscourts.ca11.80813.11014486517.1.pdf\">majority<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wex-inarticle-ad wex-inarticle-ad-art-dsk-inart-1\">\n<div class=\"wex-ad-wrap wex-ad-art-dsk-inart-1\" style=\"min-height:90px\"><span class=\"wex-ad-label\" hidden>Advertisement<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-3182201-15\" data-wex-ad=\"art-dsk-inart-1\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Grant rejected Florida\u2019s argument that professors speak on behalf of the state simply because they are public employees.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cFor 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,\u201d Grant wrote. \u201cBecause the government pays the professors\u2019 salaries, Florida says, their speech is the State\u2019s speech. Emphatically no.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">She added that the state\u2019s legal theory amounted to stitching together incompatible constitutional doctrines, writing that Florida could not \u201cput together half a donkey and half a camel, and then ride to victory on the synthetic hybrid,\u201d citing a quote from law professor David Cavers. <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/search?sca_esv=d7a897ae2fa4bc83&#038;rlz=1C5GCEM_enUS1203US1206&#038;sxsrf=APpeQnuJ_EQKeRf-L13ExrB32LbgxCYoig:1783452026725&#038;q=The+Choice-of-law+Process+David+Cavers&#038;si=APenkKmrXszVEKIgHqboUjmA7f1oNNpeq1sCOd3sv78cF4uZHABq89-rZreFvvqQyYYvAlcXcoqGCUmrhwqbgzrkoXysjOZXlJSt9T7AvsLML0FA6iRK8G7fMX3lE-enCD_KC9xS5macDrdRL2a1EKCK5hM9g8ENlatLITnZvxmLTXUaBTMpk44%3D&#038;sa=X&#038;ved=2ahUKEwjekZvEpMGVAxXfMlkFHe_sNt8Q_coHegQIChAd&#038;ictx=0\"><\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"wex-inarticle-ad wex-inarticle-ad-art-dsk-inart-2\">\n<div class=\"wex-ad-wrap wex-ad-art-dsk-inart-2\" style=\"min-height:90px\"><span class=\"wex-ad-label\" hidden>Advertisement<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-3182201-16\" data-wex-ad=\"art-dsk-inart-2\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/search?sca_esv=d7a897ae2fa4bc83&#038;rlz=1C5GCEM_enUS1203US1206&#038;sxsrf=APpeQnuJ_EQKeRf-L13ExrB32LbgxCYoig:1783452026725&#038;q=The+Choice-of-law+Process+David+Cavers&#038;si=APenkKmrXszVEKIgHqboUjmA7f1oNNpeq1sCOd3sv78cF4uZHABq89-rZreFvvqQyYYvAlcXcoqGCUmrhwqbgzrkoXysjOZXlJSt9T7AvsLML0FA6iRK8G7fMX3lE-enCD_KC9xS5macDrdRL2a1EKCK5hM9g8ENlatLITnZvxmLTXUaBTMpk44%3D&#038;sa=X&#038;ved=2ahUKEwjekZvEpMGVAxXfMlkFHe_sNt8Q_coHegQIChAd&#038;ictx=0\"><\/a>The majority also emphasized that universities are meant to expose students to competing ideas rather than shield them from controversial viewpoints.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe ideas Florida targets may well be noxious. Or maybe not,\u201d Grant wrote. \u201cEither way, in this context the First Amendment trusts students to figure it out for themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The ruling affirms a 2022 district court decision that issued a preliminary injunction on the law. In that <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/storage.courtlistener.com\/recap\/gov.uscourts.flnd.442797\/gov.uscourts.flnd.442797.63.0_5.pdf\">opinion<\/a>, the Chief U.S. District Judge\u00a0Mark Walker described Florida\u2019s restrictions as \u201cpositively dystopian,\u201d opening with a quote from George Orwell\u2019s <em>1984<\/em> and concluding the law represented \u201ca breathtaking assertion of power to ban unpopular ideas from public discourse.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"wex-inarticle-ad wex-inarticle-ad-art-dsk-inart-3\">\n<div class=\"wex-ad-wrap wex-ad-art-dsk-inart-3\" style=\"min-height:90px\"><span class=\"wex-ad-label\" hidden>Advertisement<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-3182201-17\" data-wex-ad=\"art-dsk-inart-3\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Florida\u2019s Republican-controlled legislature passed the Individual Freedom Act, commonly known as the Stop WOKE Act, in 2022 at Gov. <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/ron-desantis\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"575\">Ron DeSantis\u2019s <\/a>(R-FL) urging. The law expanded Florida\u2019s antidiscrimination statutes by prohibiting instruction that could lead students or employees to feel \u201cguilt, anguish, or any other form of psychological distress\u201d because of their race, sex, color, or national origin.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Grant was joined by Judge Charles R. Wilson, an appointee of former President Bill Clinton. Judge Barbara Lagoa, another Trump appointee and former DeSantis-appointed Florida Supreme Court justice, dissented, arguing that states have broad authority to determine what is taught at public institutions.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201c[The First Amendment] \u2026 does not compel all viewpoints to be worthy of state-sponsored endorsement,\u201d Lagoa wrote. \u201cThis panel is not free to rewrite precedent simply because we dislike where it leads.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"wex-inarticle-ad wex-inarticle-ad-art-dsk-inart-4\">\n<div class=\"wex-ad-wrap wex-ad-art-dsk-inart-4\" style=\"min-height:90px\"><span class=\"wex-ad-label\" hidden>Advertisement<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-3182201-25\" data-wex-ad=\"art-dsk-inart-4\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The challenge was brought in part by the <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/fire\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"3516\">Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression <\/a>on behalf of a University of South Florida professor, a student, and a student organization. A separate lawsuit was filed by the <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/aclu\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"913\">American Civil Liberties Union<\/a> and the Legal Defense Fund on behalf of educators and students.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/op-eds\/4627189\/when-will-unborn-count-all-men-created-equal-america-250\/\">TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF \u2018ALL MEN CREATED EQUAL\u2019 \u2014 WHEN WILL THE UNBORN COUNT?<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">FIRE celebrated the ruling, calling it a decisive victory for academic freedom.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wex-inarticle-ad wex-inarticle-ad-art-dsk-inart-5\">\n<div class=\"wex-ad-wrap wex-ad-art-dsk-inart-5\" style=\"min-height:90px\"><span class=\"wex-ad-label\" hidden>Advertisement<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-3182201-26\" data-wex-ad=\"art-dsk-inart-5\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThough the government has plenty of ways to promote its own viewpoint, puppeteering every <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/education-insanity-top-10-stories-of-the-week-vol-1\/\" title=\"Education Insanity: Top 10 Stories Of The Week (Vol. 1)\">university professor<\/a> in the state is not one of them,\u201d the organization <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/TheFIREorg\/status\/2074525695204594116\">wrote<\/a> in a statement. \u201cForcing an official government line\u2014in a college classroom of all places\u2014is exactly the \u2018pall of orthodoxy\u2019 the First Amendment will not tolerate.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Court blocks Florida\u2019s Stop WOKE Act on teaching limits<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4195,"featured_media":2626229,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/AP23088849508918.jpg?w=696","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[82367,32324,4980,5113,4762],"class_list":["post-2626228","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-anti-woke-law","tag-appeals-court","tag-desantis","tag-florida","tag-legislation"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/AP23088849508918.jpg?w=696","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2626228","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4195"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2626228"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2626228\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2626232,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2626228\/revisions\/2626232"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2626229"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2626228"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2626228"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2626228"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}