The state of Florida asserted on Friday that faculty members’ curriculum and in-class instruction at public universities is “government speech” and “not the speech of the educators themselves.” Therefore, such expression is fair game to be regulated by state lawmakers.
“A public university’s curriculum is set by the university in accordance with the strictures and guidance of the State’s elected officials,” lawyers for the state wrote in a court filing. “It is government speech.”
The state was responding to a lawsuit that several professors and a student filed earlier this year, alleging that the “Stop WOKE” Act violates the First Amendment and is unconstitutionally vague and racially discriminatory.