Appeals court blocks Fla. ‘Stop Woke Act,’ says it’s a ‘First Amendment sin’
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
A federal appeals court upheld a ruling Monday that blocked Florida from enforcing a law, backed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, that restricts how private companies teach diversity and inclusion in the workplace.
A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit ruled Monday that the “Stop Woke Act” “exceeds the bounds” of the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment right to freedom of speech and expression in its attempts to regulate workplace trainings on race, color, sex and national origin. The appeals court upheld a federal judge’sAugust 2022ruling that said the same.
“By limiting its restrictions to a list of ideas designated as offensive, the Act targets speech based on its content. And by barring only speech that endorses any of those ideas, it penalizes certain viewpoints — the greatest First Amendment sin,” Judge Britt C. Grantwrote in Monday’s opinion.
Julia Friedland, a spokeswoman for DeSantis, said in a statement Tuesday that the governor’s office is “reviewing all options on appeal going forward.”
“We disagree with the Court’s opinion that employers can require employees to be taught — as a condition of employment — that one race is morally superior to another race,” Friedland said. “The First Amendment protects no such thing, and the State of Florida should have every right to protect Floridians from racially hostile workplaces
The “Stop Woke Act” was approved by the Republican-controlled Florida legislature in March 2022. The act was one of DeSantis’s top priorities, and before he dropped out as a possible candidate for president in 2024, it was a routine talking point on the campaign trail.
Also referred to as the “Individual Freedom Measure,” the “Stop Woke Act” prohibits trainings in workplaces, public schools, colleges and universities that could lead someone to feel guilty or ashamed about the historic actions of their race or sex. A violation of the act is an offense under state anti-discrimination laws,The Washington Post previously reported.
OFF-TOPIC COMMENTS WILL BE DELETED WITHOUT WARNING.
Tags
Who is online
50 visitors
DeSantis is having a bad time with legal decisions. O for 2 the last two days.
florida taxpayers deserve to see a running total on what wussolini has cost each one of them with his stupidity.
The last time I read about it just on the Disney lawsuit Florida was paying over a $1000 per hour, that is not including all the other cases and now they are going to appeal with to SCOTUS.
That man is a sorry excuse that could not best the competition. . . so he petered out and his 'fat head' flatten from loss of pressure. I mean this man literally went 'viral' to do harm to liberal ideology and made it personal (that is, made it 'hurt') by calling good citizens trying to find their voice in a repressive society that was turning itself around: But DeSantis used his power for politics in a big way. . . and it got him nowhere. He is back where he started, possibly where he will always belong, because the man is a 'stunt' chasing stunts.
Now then, the above may not make 'enough' sense, but in its abstraction it is "poetry" about a sorry ass Floridian officer who simply couldn't get a leg up and out of Florida!
I was hoping you'd post this one. I found it pretty humorous when I read it last night. More of the same is coming for DeSantis and Moms of Liberty.
It's like a three-ring circus in Florida and you're right next up DeSantis and the Moms of Liberty.cou
This is going to make this more than interesting, three days ago University of Florida fired all its DEI employees this was before the court decision.
Good!
Arizona has it's share of problems but nowhere near what Florida is going through right now with DeSantis. I guess I'm a might biased but I'll choose to live in SE Arizona any day.
Well if you want to enjoy a circus stop on by Florida, Doc.
I'll try to keep that in mind.
Let's just clear the air; some conservatives are making these power moves and 'chasing after' the Supreme Court because of its "super majority" of so-called conservative like-minded judges. This is precisely what is wrong with this country and it harkens back to the nation's past. These. . .people, for lack of a better word, want to remove all the advances and achievements gained by liberals since the 60's.
There are BASTARDS among us that long ago set themselves against their fellow citizenry and who ceaselessly murmur and grumble loudly about "the others" who are getting out of their mental chains of repression. Miserable cretins who have grown old and still are as hateful, fake, and phony as some were in the 50s! And they are actively attempting to pass their 'state' (it's a sickness) onto another 'new' generation of young republicans/MAGAs.
It is a damn shame. And I for one, have made up my mind to tear each and every one of them a 'new' one when they get in my face with that noise about "get back in the box"! Some conservatives if you don't want to get your asses in the boxes you carry around for others, I suggest you just dump those boxes, because the rest of us are not interested in fulfilling your stupid, pathetic, unpatriotic dreams!