A group of professors and students at New College of Florida (NCF) banded together with an advocacy group on Monday to allege that a new Florida law unconstitutionally prevents them from expressing certain viewpoints, according to a new lawsuit.
NCF Freedom formed in response to Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis appointing six new trustees to the NCF Board of Trustees, which shifted the majority to be able to alter the campus’ environment, according to the group’s website. The plaintiffs in the case seek to have Senate Bill 266, which bars state funding for DEI measures in higher education, declared unconstitutional in violation of the First and 14th Amendments, according to the lawsuit. (RELATED: ‘We Put A Price On Woke Capital’: Christopher Rufo Explains Game Plan For Fighting Radical Corporations)
“Success of the lawsuit would mean faculty and students would no longer be told by the state government what they can and can’t talk about, as promised by the US Constitution,” Jono Miller, President of NCF Freedom, told the Daily Caller News Foundation.
DES MOINES, IOWA – JULY 28: Republican presidential candidate Florida Governor Ron DeSantis speaks to guests at the Republican Party of Iowa 2023 Lincoln Dinner on July 28, 2023 in Des Moines, Iowa. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
The plaintiffs in the case argue that the defendants, which include Commissioner of the Florida State Board of Education Manny Diaz Jr., members of the Florida Board of Governors of the State University System and several NCF trustees, committed “viewpoint based censorship” in violation of the First Amendment and violated the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. They also want an injunction to halt enforcement of the law.
“It has been rare for state legislatures to outlaw the teaching of particular thoughts and ideas which are viewed by scientists, philosophers and academicians as being within the legitimate scope of academic inquiry,” the lawsuit reads. “The State of Florida leads the country in efforts to censor academic freedom and instruction in its college classrooms.”
The plaintiffs also allege that enforcement of Senate Bill 266, which was signed by DeSantis on May 15, has resulted in “ideological censorship.”
“In dictating to faculty and students what ideas are true and false, Florida runs headlong into the Bill of Rights,” the lawsuit reads.
DeSantis’ appointees voted Aug. 10 to get rid of the school’s gender studies program and axed the office tasked with advancing DEI early in the semester.
“Any response will be contained within our legal filings,” a DeSantis press secretary told the DCNF.
NCF did not immediately respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.
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