A federal appeals court ruled unconstitutional that part of Florida’s “Stop WOKE Act” preventing private employers and schools from holding mandatory work meetings endorsing viewpoints the state disapproved of. The law targeted so-called progressive ideas including that a person is “inherently racist, sexist or oppressive” by virtue of his race or that anyone should feel guilty about the acts of their ancestors. (Courthouse News Service, March 4, 2024, by Kayla Goggin)
A panel of the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals unanimously found that the law violated the First Amendment. Judge Britt C. Grant wrote, ” … Even if we presumed that the act served the interest of combating discrimination in some way, its breadth and scope would doom it. Banning speech on a wide variety of political topics is bad; banning speech on a wide variety of political viewpoints is worse.” (The Washington Post, March 4, 2024, by Anumita Kaur)