The University of Florida has backed off of prohibiting several professors from testifying against new voter restrictions in the state.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://talkingpointsmemo.com/?p=1393635
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://talkingpointsmemo.com/?p=1393635
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This is welcome news, but the attempt to prohibit faculty from testifying should never have happened in the first place. The interests of the state government are not sacrosanct. Academic Freedom is.
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Well, that didn’t take long for the lawyers to tell the mouth-breathers that their actions were going to cost a bunch of dollars in defending (and losing) the lawsuits as well as the payouts.
Fuckers must be really into the Orange FlavorAid to not understand the First Amendment.
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There’s also this tidbit from a letter to today’s NY Times:
In June, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a law to protect “ideas and opinions” that students and faculty “may find uncomfortable, unwelcome, disagreeable or offensive.” Now, administrators are unconstitutionally prohibiting faculty members from expressing ideas and opinions that Mr. DeSantis may find uncomfortable, unwelcome, disagreeable or offensive.
Moreover, the Supreme Court has specifically held that government “may not prohibit the expression of an idea simply because society finds the idea itself offensive or disagreeable.”
Florida was a sitting duck for a lawsuit it would have lost, and it took the easy way out.
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They don’t care, it’s just performative bullshit to the Faux noise crowd - this won’t be reported, it’s just another step in DeSantis’ march towards the GQP nomination.
Hopefully TMFWWNBN feels threatened and lacks the discipline to hold his fire and will go after the vile guv soon.
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Rapid response is pleasing.
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It’s the kind of “rapid response” that you get from the roaches when you flick on the kitchen lights in the middle of the night.
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If they know what’s good for them…
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Yeah, retaliatory job actions banning legal testimony by academics looks bad and reflects poorly on both the governor and Florida’s institutions of higher learning.
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Florida is supposed to have very strong ‘Sunshine Laws’ on open government. I guess its a real struggle for a growing totalitarian regime.
https://myfloridalegal.com/pages.nsf/Main/DC0B20B7DC22B7418525791B006A54E4
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Especially when professors are allowed to provide expert testimony in favor of DeSantis’ positions. (Yes, this happened recently.)
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Well “retaliatory” anything never looks good, really.
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Backed down or point made?
This might be the end of this particular battle in the ongoing GOP war against opposition, but isn’t the end of this issue regarding state employees, not by a long shot.
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“We can’t simply WIN the debate! We have to CRUSH their will to see things differently!”
I think that sums up the entire pointless debacle. And, as usual, the political bullies lose and lick their wounds to be even more stupid next time.
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Reading the letter from the NYT it got me thinking about James Tracy, formerly of Florida Atlantic University, and how the school finally got rid of this Sandy Hook Denier. They fired him over unauthorized use of university equipment for his pod cast, as one example.
And in the article Tracy complains that the university was looking for anything they could to fire him. Well there are rules professor, and you didn’t follow them.
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So does this mean they’re going with the backup plan, sending a SWAT team to take the professors into “protective” custody? For their own good, of course.
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America would be better off without these kind of incel cry-babies.
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Well, there’s cancel culture, and then there’s cancel-cancel culture. It was a stupid idea from the outset, and now the Univ. of FL once again looks stupid and political. Higher Education, We Hardly Knew Ye!
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This guy and Alex Jones had the “yes it is, no it isn’t, yes it is, no it isn’t” game down pat. You can talk about theories, but at some part you have show the goods that back up your version.
Hear that Rudy and Sidney?
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OT: Your (attempted) voter fraud anecdote for the day. Spoiler Alert - it involves a Republican.
The 17-year-old son of Virginia Gov.-elect Glenn Youngkin (R) tried to cast a ballot in Tuesday’s gubernatorial election twice despite being too young to vote, Fairfax County officials said in a statement released Friday.
The statement, which identified the teen as Youngkin’s 17-year-old son, emphasized that he did not end up voting and stated that he did not violate any state election laws.
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