A federal judge in Florida issued a preliminary injunction after the ACLU filed a lawsuit challenging Florida’s “Stop WOKE act” for allegedly violating the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution. The ACLU, joined by the ACLU of Florida and the Legal Defense Fund, accused the state of passing a law that is racially motivated and will create censorship in schools and the workplace.

Judge Mark Walker of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida commented that the state will need to argue its case, “but it cannot win the argument by muzzling its opponents.” He continued to call the bill something you might find in an alternate universe, referencing the Netflix show “Stranger Things.”

House Bill 7, also known as the “Stop WOKE Act,” went into effect in April 2022 and puts restrictions on how race, gender, and inequality can be discussed and taught in schools, colleges, and workplaces. It targets any discussion that could potentially make an individual feel guilty for past actions committed by their racial ancestors. Additionally, it denies that meritocracy is in any way racist and prohibits the teaching of critical race theory (CRT) in schools.

In a press release from the Governor’s office after the signing of the bill, Governor DeSantis called this action a way “to give businesses, employees, children, and families tools to stand up against discrimination and woke indoctrination.” DeSantis continued to state that “In Florida, we will not let the far-left woke agenda take over our schools and workplaces.”

Individuals and groups that oppose CRT are under the impression that this school of thought places the blame of racism on white people and instills the idea that white people are inherently oppressors while Black people are “hopelessly oppressed victims.” However, those who support the teaching of CRT argue that it is teaching students to be aware and to be vigilant that “social institutions are laced with racism embedded in laws, regulations, rules, and procedures that lead to differential outcomes by race.”

Since 2014, in the aftermath of the police killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, the phrase ‘stay woke’ or ‘being woke’ has risen in popularity to describe individuals who are aware of (or awake to) racial and social justice issues. It started as a watchword for Black Americans. In recent years, the phrase has shortened to just ‘woke,’ and while used by both the left and the right, it has come to have very different meanings.

To left-leaning individuals, being ‘woke’ is a badge of honor. It is a term that makes advocates of social justice stand out for their work and political ideology and is usually centered around the promotion of teaching critical race theory. However, on the other side of the aisle, to be “woke” to a right-leaning individual is synonymous with the ‘cancel’ culture and is restricting speech by forcing substantial ‘political correctness.’

The complaint argues that the law passed last April is a violation of First and Fourteenth Amendment rights. First, it denies the right of an individual to receive information free from viewpoint-based discrimination. Viewpoint discrimination and content discrimination restrict or censor speech on a subject and the opinions and perspectives on that subject matter. The government cannot restrict teaching about slavery, as that would be content discrimination. The argument, in this case, is that banning CRT is a form of viewpoint discrimination or banning speech that allows for perspectives on this point in American history. The Court continued to opine that “viewpoint discrimination is thus an egregious form of content discrimination.”

The Supreme Court stated in Rosenberger v. Rectors and Visitors of the University of Virginia (1995) that “when the government targets not subject matter but particular views taken by speakers on a subject, the violation of the First Amendment is all the more blatant.”

And second, it violates the Fourteenth Amendment’s Due Process Clause because the legislation is impermissibly vague.

Governor Ron DeSantis’s office stated they will appeal the decision stating that they believe “Judge Walker has effectively ruled that companies have a First Amendment right to instruct their employees in white supremacy.”