Home News Federal Court Hands DeSantis a Win Over His ‘Stop Woke Act’

Federal Court Hands DeSantis a Win Over His ‘Stop Woke Act’

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Ron DeSantis via Gage Skidmore Flickr

A federal judge in Florida handed Governor Ron DeSantis a substantial win after ruling that the governor’s administration did not violate a court order regarding the state’s “Stop WOKE Act,” which prohibits colleges from teaching Critical Race Theory and other woke concepts. 

According to Townhall, plaintiffs attempted to argue that Gov. DeSantis failed to comply with a preliminary injunction that prevents the enforcement of some parts of the law, citing a memo sent out by Florida’s chief of the Office of Policy and Budget, Chris Spencer, asking universities to provide a list of all staff, programs and campus activities related to diversity, equity and inclusion, and critical race theory.

“Although this court would not hesitate to compel compliance with its preliminary injunction, this court finds there has been no violation of the injunction at this time,” U.S. District Judge Mark E. Walker wrote in her decision. 

Judge Walker previously called the law “positively dystopian” while issuing a temporary injunction. 

In November, Walker wrote, “our professors are critical to a healthy democracy, and the State of Florida’s decision to choose which viewpoints are worthy of illumination and which must remain in the shadows has implications for us all…if our ‘priests of democracy’ are not allowed to shed light on challenging ideas, then democracy will die in darkness.”

DeSantis’s press secretary Bryan Griffin defended the law, asserting the administration is fulfilling its duty to protect students against overt indoctrination attempts.

“The governor, as chief executive of the state, has every right to ask how public dollars are being spent by public state entities, like state colleges and universities. In fact, that is good government,” Griffin said. 

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