A federal judge on Friday permanently blocked part of Florida’s “Stop the Woke Act,” a bill pushed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis and other Republican lawmakers to ban critical thinking in the workplace and education. Racial theory training.
Chief U.S. District Judge Mark Walker issued a permanent injunction against the portion of the law that prohibits race-related training in private workplaces, ruling that the 2022 law violated the First Amendment.
The Stop Wrong on Our Children and Employees Act, also known as the Stop Woke Act, seeks to prohibit teaching or business practices that tell individuals that members of a certain racial group are inherently racist and should feel guilty for past actions .
It also prohibits promoting the idea that a person is privileged or oppressed because of his or her race or gender. The law further bans the idea of accepting discrimination in order to achieve diversity.
Federal appeals court blocks parts of DeSantis’ ‘Stop Woke Act’ on constitutional grounds
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis delivers a political speech at the Cradle of Aviation Museum in Garden City, New York, on April 1, 2023. (Photo by Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis via Getty Images)
It said that “mandatory training programs or other activities that advocate, promote, advance, indoctrinate or compel such individuals (employees) to believe that any of the following concepts constitute discrimination on the basis of race, color, sex or national origin,” citing eight related concepts.
“[This is] A powerful reminder that the First Amendment cannot be twisted to serve the interests of elected officials,” Shalini Goel Agarwal of Protect Democracy, an attorney for the plaintiffs in the case, wrote in a statement road.
Parts of the law related to education are not affected by the ruling.
DeSantis often refers to the law when he says Florida is a place where “you wake up and die.”
Federal judge helps DeSantis admin win ‘Stop Woke Act’
Governor DeSantis often refers to the law when he says Florida is a place where “you wake up and die.” (Photo by David Di Delgado/Getty Images)
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Walker previously issued a preliminary injunction in 2022 when he ruled the workplace portion of the law was unconstitutional on First Amendment grounds, a ruling the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld in March.
According to Fox 35, Walker also issued a separate preliminary injunction against parts of the law that restrict the teaching of race-related concepts at Florida colleges and universities.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
