A federal judge has partially suspended a law in Florida backed by Republican Governor Ron DeSantis. This limits classroom instruction and workplace training on race, gender and inequality.
In an August 18 ruling, U.S. District Judge Mark Waller likened the state to the "upside down" Netflix series Stranger ThingsAmendment It tramples on Article 1 rights and imposes a “naked eye regulation of speech.”
"In the popular television series Stranger Things, 'Upside Down' represents a parallel dimension containing a distorted version of our world," wrote Judge Waller. I'm here.
“Recently, Florida appeared to have turned the First Amendment on its head. A person is free to burden speech, but in Florida, where the First Amendment clearly prohibits private persons from burdening speech, states are free to burden speech. There could be," he added.
Judge Waller wrote, "Like the heroine ofStranger Things, this court is once again called upon to turn Florida upside down."
The "Individual Freedom Act" or "Stop WOKE" Act has been the subject of several lawsuits challenging its constitutionality, arguing that racism stifles speech in classrooms and workplaces.
Honeymoon registry company Honeyfund.com, & Ben Jerry franchisee Primo Tampa, and workplace diversity consultancy Collective Concepts have filed lawsuits against Governor DeSantis. centered around a government-approved historical narrative, the Act challenged illegal speech while silencing private companies and institutions in violation of the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution. I'm here.
Justice Waller said that while the law was "designed to ward off" dissent, it also allowed the state to "weaponize" the idea of objectivity to "further discredit prohibited concepts."
Shalini Goel Agarwal, a Protect Democracy attorney representing the plaintiffs, said in a statement, "We went to court, won the lawsuit, and believe that I look forward to seeing it overturned forever."
"This is a direct attack on America's free speech values and Florida's free enterprise," she said.
This is a work in progress
