Florida’s Stop W.O.K.E. Act Legal Battles
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CounterCurrent:
Exposed: The “Chilling Effect”
Florida’s Stop W.O.K.E. Act Legal Battles
CounterCurrent is the National Association of Scholars’ weekly newsletter, bringing you the biggest issues in academia and our responses to them.
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Category: Academic Freedom, Legislation; Reading Time: ~4 minutes
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** Featured Articles ([link removed]) : ([link removed]) Getting Academic Freedom Right ([link removed]) ; ([link removed]) There’s Nothing Left to Lose: On the Stop W.O.K.E Act and Academic Freedom; ([link removed]) Thank you, Florida, for Fighting Indoctrination ([link removed])
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Legal decisions and state legislation are dominating the news this summer, and for good reason—they’re determining the future of academic freedom and freedom of speech in higher education.
Since it was signed into law last year, Florida’s House Bill 7 ([link removed]) (the “Stop W.O.K.E. Act”) has stirred up controversy. This law has been challenged by individuals and organizations on both sides of the aisle regarding its constitutionality and its alleged free speech protections. But before we get into these questions, let’s review the Stop W.O.K.E. Act and where it stands in the courts.
Governor Ron DeSantis signed the Stop W.O.K.E. Act into law in April 2022—effectively banning the use of race-based concepts in Florida K–12 and higher education. Shortly thereafter, in August, a group of Florida postsecondary educators and students filed a lawsuit challenging the law’s constitutionality under the First and Fourteenth Amendments. They argue that this bill has a “chilling effect” on professors’ ability to discuss critical race theory and any other “divisive” topics based on race or sex. At first glance, this is a worrisome allegation—because shouldn’t free speech be protected, even controversial speech? We’ll get to that momentarily.
Currently, this lawsuit (Pernell and Novoa v. Lamb) is with the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals. Last month, the Academic Freedom Alliance and the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, filed amicus curiae briefs on behalf of the plaintiffs. Earlier this month, they were joined by another brief courtesy of the University of California’s National Center for Free Speech and Civic Engagement.
The National Association of Scholars (NAS) has been following this legislation and the resulting legal case closely. NAS Director of the Diversity in the Sciences Project Scott Turner, NAS Board of Directors member Bruce Gilley, and NAS Policy Director Teresa R. Manning have been covering developments related to the Stop W.O.K.E. Act over the past month (see here ([link removed]) , here ([link removed]) , and here ([link removed]) , respectively). We’ve come to discover that this legislation is more nuanced than the media would like you to believe, and that it doesn’t harm academic freedom or freedom of speech. Manning writes in her article ([link removed]) :
The law is actually a laudable and constitutionally sound measure to rein in the political radicalism and race-baiting that are so rampant in American schools and especially in universities ... One irony here is that the law actually forbids attempts at thought control, notwithstanding press reports to the contrary.
Furthermore, upon reading the actual text of the Stop W.O.K.E. Act, you discover:
[This law] may not be construed to prohibit discussion of the concepts listed herein as part of a course of training or instruction, provided such training or instruction is given in an objective manner without endorsement of the concepts.
So, the bill doesn’t actually ban speech in the classroom regarding “divisive” concepts. What it does do is require that discussion remain objective and non-partisan—which doesn't seem particularly problematic. If anything, reining in an ideology that’s forced a politicized, one-track mindset regarding race and sex is a win for freedom of speech in higher ed. Gilley and Turner rightly argue this in their articles.
Higher education has been overtaken by a politicized orthodoxy of thought, one where “academics who wander outside the boundaries face ostracism, are denied the ability to teach, and face sanctions and dismissal ([link removed]) .” Though it’s killing our colleges and universities, woke ideologues staunchly hold to the accepted orthodoxy and loudly proclaim anyone or anything that threatens it the “villain.” As Gilley puts it ([link removed]) ,
The academy is on guard against anyone who threatens the structures that protect its intellectual stagnancy. It uses diversity statements, job talks, racial quotas, and other forms of gatekeeping, like control of academic journals and threats to bring out student mobs, in order to police its realm.
There is a sickness plaguing free expression in higher education, but it’s not the Stop W.O.K.E. Act or related legislation. Don’t let the negative press surrounding this issue skew the truth. Take a step back, observe, read, and listen. You may be surprised at what you find.
Until next week.
Kali Jerrard
Communications Associate
National Association of Scholars
Read Scott Turner's Article ([link removed])
Read Bruce Gilley's Article ([link removed])
Read Teresa R. Manning's Article ([link removed])
For more on academic freedom, legislation, and issues in higher education:
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July 20, 2023
** The Tenacious Absurdity of Anti-racism ([link removed])
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Pierre Rivieux
The Atlantic is a magazine with a splendid history. Yet it recently published an article—“‘Race Neutral’ Is the New ‘Separate but Equal,’” by Uma Mazyck Jayakumar and Ibram X. Kendi—that is both self-contradictory and morally questionable.
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July 07, 2023
** Title IX: Bad-Actor Bureaucrats Must Pay ([link removed])
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Teresa R. Manning
An appeals recently court ruled against Texas’s Rice University and in favor of a student athlete in a Title IX case—the federal law banning sex discrimination in schools, but now used for dating mishaps on the theory that they represent sex bias.
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July 13, 2023
** Report: Shifting Sands III ([link removed])
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David Randall, Warren Kindzierski, and Stanley Young
This report focuses on failures by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health to consider empirical evidence available in the public domain early in the pandemic.
** About the NAS
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