TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — A University of South Florida associate professor and student say they are fighting against government censorship in Florida.
Associate professor Adriana Novoa, Sam Rechek, and USF student group 'First Amendment Forum' are plaintiffs in a lawsuit filed in Tallahassee on Tuesday. The lawsuit argues Florida's Individual Freedom Act, dubbed the 'Stop WOKE Act' by its proponents, is unconstitutional and violates state law as well.
Novoa works in the USF Department of History. Sam Rechek is a senior at USF and the president and founder of the USF First Amendment Forum, established in 2020. They are represented by the civil liberties group Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE).
According to a press release from FIRE, the new law is problematic for two key reasons. First, they argue the "First Amendment doesn’t allow Florida law to declare which concepts are too challenging for students and faculty to discuss in a college classroom." Secondly, they said the "Stop WOKE Act restricts college student and faculty members' ability to play devil’s advocate, express viewpoints."
"I see a lot of students in classes who are really interested in tough conversations," Sam Rechek told 10 Tampa Bay on Wednesday. "If we aren't allowed to bring forward all the different perspectives that we could to the table then we wouldn't be able to sort through them and learn from them in all the different ways that we possibly could."
Rechek said his passion for First Amendment rights stems from his upbringing. Growing up, his mother was an evolutionary psychology professor, but he also attended Catholic school.
"There’s a bit of a tension there between Catholicism at school and evolution at home, and what that upbringing taught me is that, fundamentally, we can coexist with wildly different world views and that’s a good thing," Rechek said. "We can learn from each other in that way."
Rechek said professors should be able to teach their area of expertise without restrictions from the state.
"We don’t want professors to just shy away from a topic because the state has decided that it’s too controversial," he added. "We don’t want students to be robbed of the opportunity to speak about those topics candidly with people who have really read the literature, their faculty!"
Attorney Greg Gruebel with FIRE said the 'Stop WOKE Act' prohibits robust debate on campus, and, therefore, violates the First Amendment.
Gruebel argues the law violates first and fourteenth amendment rights, and a Florida state law called the 'Campus Free Expression Act'. He says the act "protects students' rights to be presented with difficult, potentially offensive concepts, and ideas in the classroom."
In wake of the debate over what’s known as critical race theory, supporters, including DeSantis, say this bill is about stopping “woke” indoctrination and expanding protections from discrimination.
DeSantis proposed legislation called the Stop W.O.K.E. Act to address critical race theory back in December.
"We won’t allow Florida tax dollars to be spent teaching kids to hate our country or to hate each other," the governor said in a statement. "We also have a responsibility to ensure that parents have the means to vindicate their rights when it comes to enforcing state standards."
Back in April, DeSantis signed the bill into law banning school lessons or workplace training that could make participants feel discomfort or guilt.
The bill bars any teachings or workplace training that “espouses, promotes, advances, inculcates, or compels” someone to believe a particular race or sex is morally superior, or an individual can be inherently racist or sexist.
The portion of the law which relates to conduct in businesses was deemed unconstitutional by a state judge in August.