A Florida law restricting workplace bias or diversity training violates the First Amendment and can’t be enforced, a federal judge ruled Thursday.
The preliminary injunction granted by Chief Judge Mark Walker of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida doesn’t address application of the law (H.B. 7) in Florida schools. A group of students and educators represented by the ACLU filed a separate federal lawsuit Thursday challenging the law.
“If Florida truly believes we live in a post-racial society, then let it make its case. But it cannot win the argument by muzzling its opponents,” Walker wrote. “Because, without justification, (the law) attacks ideas, not conduct, Plaintiffs are substantially likely to succeed on the merits of this lawsuit.”
