A federal judge has refused to issue a preliminary injunction against a new Florida law that prohibits instruction on certain topics in “general education core courses” at state colleges and universities.
Chief U.S. District Judge Mark Walker on Friday issued a 38-page ruling in a challenge filed by the group NCF Freedom, Inc. and several New College of Florida professors and students.
Walker wrote that the plaintiffs had not established legal standing needed to receive a preliminary injunction to block the law.
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“This court recognizes that the average person might find the outcome in this case frustrating,” Walker wrote. “Here we have real professors who teach real subjects at a real school where lawmakers and decision-makers have demonstrated real hostility toward certain ideas and viewpoints, and there is now a law that could or could not be used to punish them. On the surface, there appears to be a real ‘case or controversy.’ But the law governing standing requires more than a generalized view of the interests at stake, the responsible parties, and the possibility of some future consequence. If you dislike a law or are afraid of possible future consequences, you cannot simply invoke the jurisdiction of this court based solely on how you feel or what you believe may happen. Instead, you must meet your burden to establish standing.”
As an example, Walker rejected an argument raised by plaintiffs about the law leading to self-censorship. “Instead, plaintiffs’ scant evidence demonstrates only that they subjectively fear potential consequences that may come about based on the general hostility toward certain viewpoints that specific state officials have expressed,” he wrote. “Plaintiffs’ theory of standing is entirely too speculative to entitle them to seek preliminary injunctive relief. They have failed to meet their burden of proof and therefore their motion challenging the general education requirements is due to be denied for lack of standing.”
Under the law, core curriculum courses “may not distort significant historical events,” include curricula that teach “identity politics” or violate a separate law that restricts the way certain race-related topics can be taught.
The law also prohibits curricula “based on theories that systemic racism, sexism, oppression, and privilege are inherent in the institutions of the United States and were created to maintain social, political, and economic inequities.”
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