DeSantis’ admin did not violate injunction against anti-CRT law, judge finds

The administration of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis did not violate an injunction barring enforcement of anti-Critical Race Theory (CRT) legislation, a judge ruled.

The “Individual Freedom Act,”…

The administration of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis did not violate an injunction barring enforcement of anti-Critical Race Theory (CRT) legislation, a judge ruled.

The “Individual Freedom Act,” informally known as the “Stop WOKE (Wrongs To Our Kids and Employees) Act,” serves to prevent CRT, as well as other “woke” ideas, from being taught on college campuses in Florida.

“The Stop W.O.K.E. Act protects the open exchange of ideas by prohibiting teachers or employers who hold agency over others from forcing discriminatory concepts on students as part of classroom instruction or on employees as a condition of maintaining employment,” said DeSantis’ press secretary Bryan Griffin.

The law has faced legal hurdles since its passage in the 2022 session. Tallahassee U.S. District Judge Mark Walker blocked the law’s enforcement as it would pertain to businesses in August. The law has also been challenged by professors and students in two separate lawsuits, and Walker barred parts of the law from being enforced on college campuses in November. 

“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,” Walker wrote last week. 

Opponents of the law contended that DeSantis’ administration had violated the November preliminary injunction in a memo written to obtain “a comprehensive list of all staff, programs and campus activities related to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) and critical race theory” from Florida colleges. The note came from Chris Spencer, chief of Florida’s Office of Policy and Budget.   

Despite suspicion from the opposition that the memo was a means of circumventing the injunction, Walker, while acknowledging that “this court would not hesitate to compel compliance with its preliminary injunction,” found that “there has been no violation of the injunction at this time.” 

The state maintains that the memo was part of annual budgeting, as well as pointing out that obtaining information regarding violations to the law does not constitute enforcement barred by the injunction.  

“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,” a spokesman told Fox News Digital.