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Lawsuit filed against Florida's 'Stop the Woke Act'
A lawsuit filed against the controversial Stop the Wrongs To Our Kids and Employees Act. That is also known as the 'Stop Woke Act.' Governor Ron DeSantis signed that into law last week.
ORLANDO, Fla. - Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is named in a new lawsuit recently filed pushing back against HB7 also referred to as "Stop WOKE" Act.
The suit was filed Friday as DeSantis signed the bill into law. The firm out of Jacksonville represents a group from across Florida. The plaintiffs include teachers, an incoming kindergartner, a diversity training director, and an associate professor in the history department at the University of Central Florida.
The group alleges the new law violates the First Amendment - which protects freedom of speech. They also claim it violates the Fourteenth Amendment - which protects the civil rights of Black people.
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The lawsuit names the governor, attorney general, and state education leaders as defendants - including the outgoing education commissioner.
The new law restricts how schools and jobs can discuss darker parts of history. Topics like Black History and the Holocaust are still in school curriculum, but the law says schools and businesses can't teach it in a way that makes people feel uncomfortable or guilty. The lawsuit called this censorship and attorneys argue this makes it harder to teach topics accurately and without fear of repercussion.
The governor says it protects students and employees from "indoctrination."
"In Florida, we will not use taxpayer dollars to teach our kids to hate our country or to hate each other," DeSantis said at a new conference as he signed the bill into law.
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FOX 35 reached out to the firm out of Jacksonville that filed the suit and the UCF professor for additional comment. We're still waiting to hear back.
The bill signing also followed the state education department's announcement that many districts will have to re-select textbooks for next after it said some included prohibited topics.